Semana Santa Estepa

Seville enchants

The Santiago Festival, which is celebrated on 25 July, the feast day of Spain’s patron saint, has been declared an Andalusian Festival of Tourist Interest. It consists of street parties, the “fire bull”, the opening speech, a party in the town square on the eve of the festival, and the procession of the Apostle Santiago on his white horse and Our Lady of Despair dressed up for the occasion.

The most important festivity in Gines is, undoubtedly, the day the wagons set off for the Pilgrimage to El Rocío. This event draws a huge crowd each year, both locals and visitors from the province of Seville and the rest of Andalusia. This is particularly noteworthy as the event takes place on a non-holiday Wednesday.

“Una Pará en Gines” has been declared an Andalusian Event of Tourist Interest in 2018. This major tourism event focuses on nature and the town’s long-standing traditions related to the El Rocío Pilgrimage. It is organised in September or October by the Town Council’s Festivals Department.

The Dukes of Montepensier commissioned the reconstruction of this Mudejar style building in 1859 according to the design of the architect Balbino Marrón. It consists of a single nave with an 18th-century baroque high altar and a painting Saint Ferdinand in front of the Virgin Mary by Luis de Oñate.

The Pilgrimage in honour of the Our Lady of Valme takes place in Dos Hermanas (Seville) on the third Sunday of October. The pilgrims carry the image from the Santa María Magdalena Church in Dos Hermanas to the Shrine at Cortijo del Cuarto in the Sevillian neighbourhood of Bellavista.

The Pilgrimage of Nuestra Señora de Aguas Santas in Villaverde del Río (Seville), commonly known as the “convent” pilgrimage, is one of the two oldest in Andalusia since it has taken place for nearly eight centuries (1247).