EL ROCÍO
By María de Oñate
This is the name of a small village, 96 Km from Sevilla and situated in the province of Huelva.
There you see a magnificent Basilica ( years ago, it was a very small hermitages where the image of the blessed Virgin Mary (called Virgen del Rocío) was placed 7 centuries ago.Long time ago, there was the fertility worship in that area, and in the Middle Age a miraculous image of the Virgin was found nearby.
About April, always a week after Easter, a very big and famous pilgrinage is celebrated It was born hundreds of years ago, as a way to beg the virgin for special favours and to thank her as well for the grants received along the year.
Pilgrins from everywhere in Spain and even from abroad go there every year. It is one of the most famous celebrations in Spain. It pasts for about more than a week, and it is not only the days spent in the village that count, but the time to go and come back. There is a special ritual that remains us of the baptism of Christ. Everybody that goes for the first time, has a kind of baptism in a small river. People, specially from the south, go on horseback and in special charts drawn by oxen, with their heads decorated as the Egyptian gods. The carts are embellished with flowers and garlands and they are the main of transport, together with horses to go trough the marshyfields.
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This festival is a synthesis of the Christian faith and the popular folklore; it is something difficult to explain. Every moment, every gesture, every detail apparently profane, can be seen on that solemn occasion with a deep and religious meaning. When people arrived at the Bassilica, there is a procession with all the charts in front of the virgin.
There is also a solemn Mass and the pilgrins sing and play the guitar.
"Flamenco" is danced and song everywhere. It is a very happy celebration. This dance has an Arabic and Gypsy origin and it shows very deep feelings in a poetic language.
"Sevilana" is another popular dance known even outside Spain.
Women wear flounce costumes, very colourful and sophisticated.
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Flamenco
They play the castanets, at the same time they dance and tap their heels.
Men wear well-fitting trousers with special hats. More than a million people from all over the world, go on pilgrinage to
Socorro and her friends
El Rocio is worth visiting, and the experience you will never forget.
