Romería de la Bella (religious pilgrimage of La Bella)

The Pilgrimage in honor of Ntra. Sra. de la Bella stands out for being a celebration genuine with more than half a century of history and considered the third in importance in the region. It brings together thousands of people around the second weekend of May, when the streets of Lepe are adorned with their traditional sky of blue and white paper and the pilgrimage site next to El Terrón magnificently welcomes pilgrims and visitors. It is a festivity in the purest Andalusian style, where the typical pilgrimage constumes are worn and the singing and dancing of Sevillanas bring joy to the streets.

The history of the Romería began in 1966, when a group of young peoplefrom Catholic action, at the request of the priest Don Manuel Gómez, organized a tour countryside to the place known as Cabezo de la Bella, next to the ruins of the old Franciscan convent. Since then, it has grown in tradition and popularity to become the massive celebration of our days and that comes to endorse a feeling that was born in the fifteenth century, when the discovery of the Virgen de la Bella was produced, which with its subsequent arrival in Lepe centuries later, remained forever linked to the municipality.

The central acts begin on Friday afternoon with the massive Offering of Flowers. Saturday dawns and the drummers invade the streets with their touch remembering that, in the afternoon, the path to the pilgrimage site begins, with the exciting stop at the First Cross, where the Hail to the Virgin is sung. When night falls, the Virgin enters her hermitage and there is the Puja del Pendón, an insignia that represents the Patron Saint. The night passes with the candles to the Virgin so that she is never alone. Among the religious cults, the Holy Rosary stands out on Sunday night, with its spiritual journey by torchlight.

Surrounding the ruins of the old convent, a splendid enclosure, of great showiness and with large green areas with the characteristic olive and fig trees and with a multitude of booths and houses that follow the typical pilgrimage construction models. In this environment, more than one hundred thousand people gather during the days of the Pilgrimage. The days take place in an atmosphere of coexistence between neighbours and visitors, always enlivened with the songs and dances typical of our land and all accompanied by good food and drink.

The following weekend, the faithful take the Banner of the Virgin to the enclosure, where it will be guarded until the start of the next pilgrimage. This celebration is known as the Romería Chica, which could well compete in festive atmosphere anda popular participation with any other pilgrimage in the area.