The Pilgrimage of El Rocío takes place over the Whitsunday weekend in honour of the Madonna of the Dew. The tiny Andalusian hamlet comes alive with a million devotees who arrive in carriages or on horseback, wearing traditional flamenco-style clothing.
Nearly a million people from all over Spain make the long journey through Andalucía, some taking up to five days to gather in El Rocío, where the statue of the Virgen del Rocío has been worshipped since 1280.
Many pilgrims come on horseback and in elaborately decorated wagons spun with silver and gold (called simpecados) which are pulled by oxen and carry effigies of the Virgin. The sudden influx of people transforms the usually quiet village of El Rocío into a lively party venue, with women in their flamenco dresses injecting a burst of colour into the landscape.
In the early hours of Pentecost Monday the festival comes to a long-awaited climax as the Virgin of the Dew is finally carried out of her sanctuary and paraded around the town, passing above the heads of the devotees, its candlelit passage accompanied by frantic bell-ringing, exploding firecrackers and the chants of the jubliant crowd: "Viva la Virgen del Rocio, Viva la Paloma Blanca" - "Long live the Virgin of the Dew, Long live the White Dove".
Many pilgrims come on horseback and in elaborately decorated wagons spun with silver and gold (called simpecados) which are pulled by oxen and carry effigies of the Virgin. The sudden influx of people transforms the usually quiet village of El Rocío into a lively party venue, with women in their flamenco dresses injecting a burst of colour into the landscape.
In the early hours of Pentecost Monday the festival comes to a long-awaited climax as the Virgin of the Dew is finally carried out of her sanctuary and paraded around the town, passing above the heads of the devotees, its candlelit passage accompanied by frantic bell-ringing, exploding firecrackers and the chants of the jubliant crowd: "Viva la Virgen del Rocio, Viva la Paloma Blanca" - "Long live the Virgin of the Dew, Long live the White Dove".
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