The weekend after the romería, the faithful carry the Virgin’s Standard, which has previously been transferred to the parish temple of the town during the romería, to the premises, where it will be kept until the next romería begins, the year after. This festive day is commonly known as the “Romería Chica”. Since a few years back, each third Sunday of May has been converted into another romería which could compete with any other in the vicinity in terms of festive atmosphere and popular influx.
La Almadraba of Nueva Umbría was built in 1929. These old facilities are the “chanca” or settlement where the crew and personnel related to the almadraba (the art of catching big fish like the Atlantic blue-fin tuna during its migration through an elaborate and age-old Mediterranean technique) lived together up to months per year (from March to September). Most of them were accompanied by their families what made the population swell to 800 inhabitants, in other words, transforming it into a small village with services as a commissary, school, bar, hairdresser, artisan workshop, etc. were set up.
The technique of fishing with almadraba in the area probably dates back as far as the 15th century. This almadraba was intensively practised in the first half of the 20th century, as illustrated by the construction of warehouses around 1950, and the yearly catch reached up to 32,000 tuna fish. After this date, the catches started declining sharply, until it was decided in 1963 to abandon this technique of fishing, along with the facilities, due to loss of profitability. At the beginning of the eighties a new intent to revive this type of catching was tried out but led to no result.
It regards a chapel built in the 20th century where the figure of Our Lady of La Bella is stored during the celebration of the romería (religious pilgrimage), every second weekend of May. It is a building with a Latin cross with a bell tower attached which can be accessed by a staircase. It is located at the foot of the peak of La Bella, from which the area of the romería in its entirety and the marshes of the river Piedras can be sighted.
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 RomeríaChica, which could well compete in festive atmosphere anda popular participation with any other pilgrimage in the area.
To choose camping Antilla, in Huelva, is to choose the ideal destination for your holiday in a family atmosphere, with a kind, peaceful and relaxed treatment. Visit our website to check out our facilities for the enjoyment by all of your family. We take care of and pamper our camping on the best beaches of Huelva. At Camping Antilla you will discover respect for harmony, passion for nature, personalised attention, relaxation and all the small, but still very important things that turn your holiday with us into a unique and unforgettable experience.
It is a site where nature becomes art, where the ocean blends with the river Piedras and gives life to the age-old harbour of El Terrón. It was declared a natural site in 1989. It is the third largest in the province of Huelva (6,250 acres). Its altitude above sea level ranges between 0 and 33 feet.
It is an important enclave of ornithology, aquaculture and ecology. Its main uses are fishing, cultural tourism and leisure. Since ancient times man has applied the varied resources this enclave has to offer in the development of such diverse and traditional activities as shellfish gathering, fishing or marine cultures. Nowadays, this natural site hosts other activities such as hiking, environmental education or bird spotting.
This site stands out because of its uniqueness, the Flecha de Nueva Umbría, a spit of sandy land that started forming over 200 years ago, advancing parallel to the coast and stretching over almost 10 miles. It grows about 40 yards each year and is between 300 and 700 yards wide. It is located at the mouth of the river Piedras and has been formed by of the strong coastal dynamics of the zone, in other words, by the supply of material by the river, the tidal cycle, the longshore drift and the dominating south-eastern winds. This formation, unique in the whole of the national territory, is considered a geomorphological jewel.
When we near this land spit we discover 10 miles of white sand and the deep blue of the sea, virgin beaches (one of the best preserved in the whole of Europe), marshy scenery, estuaries, dune ranges... A whole array of natural abundance that transforms this environment in an ideal place for lovers of nature, because of what it was, and is, an object of study and investigation.
This environment not only characterizes itself by its extraordinary wealth in number and diversity of species, both animal life and vegetation, some of which are in danger of extinction and find a natural shelter here. It also enjoys a mild climate and its humid areas are well preserved. This excellent preservation transforms it into the most valuable ecological area of the municipality and is the reason why it has been incorporated in the network of protected sites of Andalusia. Visitors can enjoy a large nudist area, where sea and nature blend in a paradisical environment.
The beaches and dunes serve as a nesting zone for many species of birds that have adapted themselves to the extraordinary salinity, humidity or drought, such as the Kentish plover, as well as some colonies of little terns and collared pratincoles.
The richness of the marshes serves as a habitat for an abundant marine animal life (eels, sea breams, sea basses, red mullets, fine clams, fiddler crabs, seahorses...) and also attracts birds like sandpipers, redshanks, ospreys, mergansers, common scoters, sandwich terns, lesser black-backed gulls, or godwits. On the beaches however, the true protagonists are the seagulls, the terns and the plovers, along with the different species of wavers like the turnstones, the dunlins or the curlews.
Among the reptiles, the chameleon is the most emblematic species, as its habitat in Europe is limited to the provinces of Málaga, Cádiz, Huelva and the Portuguese Algarve.
As to the vegetation, which is halophyte in the marsh areas, we find it has adapted very well to the salinity. The most common plants are Arthrocnemum macrostachyum, cordgrass, sea purslane, Mediterranean saltwort, limonium and sea heath. In the sandy zone which suffers from drought and extreme exposure to the sun plants as beach grass, sea holly, sea daffodil, silver lotus, European sea-rocket, sedge, retama and corn-cockle grow abundantly. The most representative plant is a species of thyme, Tymus Carnosus, which has one of its few areas of distribution in this zone.
Within this same site we find the fishing port and leisure marina of El Terrón.
We can sight this entire site from the viewpoint of El Catalán or from the rail trail that unites the beaches of La Antilla and Nueva Umbría.
Nueva Umbría Beach is nestled in the natural site Marismas del Río Piedras y Flecha de Nueva Umbría”. With almost 10 miles of fine white sand naturist lovers can enjoy the first nudist beach in the province of Huelva, declared as such in one of its stretches. Of these 10 miles, 1.5 belong to Santa Pura Beach. It is located in the heart of the natural site and is considered unspoilt, even in our times, being one of the few areas that has not suffered from human intervention. It has no constructions and offers the visitor the joy of clean water and a view of its lush vegetation between the dunes. Because of its natural and landscape features it has been chosen as a setting for cinematic and advertising productions in many instances.
El Terrón, a classy fishing port and leisure marina, is located next to the mouth of the river Piedras, in the natural site Marismas del Río Piedras y Flecha de Nueva Umbría. Among the most outstanding feats of its history we find the preparation of the expedition that would lead Juan Díaz de Solís to discover the River Plate. In former days big quantities of fish and shellfish typical of the area were brought in each day, the famous king prawn of El Terrón being the most prominent one. Nowadays, vessels of great length cannot dock, because the mouth of the river contains a sandbank that grows each year and prevents the vessels from entering the river. After reshaping its infrastructures the port has been equipped with facilities for practising water sports, in support of the tourist requirements of the enclave. Currently one can practice angling or curricán” and enjoy great satisfaction. One can also sail upstream the natural site Marismas del Río Piedras y Flecha de Nueva Umbría in a speedboat, where La Flecha” is located, a natural site as well and protected by fine, white sand, where it is also possible to practice nudism. The facilities of this port comprise the naval-fishing association El Terrón”, which includes about a hundred registered vessels.
