Teresa O'Shea reports
Religious Virgins are hugely popular in Andalucia; they are normally handcrafted from wood and porcelain and spend 99.9 per cent of the year in glass-covered alcoves at the local church. Most are dusted down and placed on flower-decked thrones at Easter-time when they are lovingly and solemnly borne through the streets. The Virgen del Carmen, however, has her own special day.
On the evening of July 16, in the fishing villages
and towns up and down the Coast, her much-loved effigy is not only
paraded through the streets but also taken for a spin round the
bay on a flower-adorned boat, accompanied by a flotilla of "jábegas"
(fishing boats). Brass bands play, crowds cheer, rockets shoot off
and fireworks fill the late dusk sky.
Celebrations vary slightly from town to town. In
Málaga, for example, the procession takes place not only
on July 16, but on the following Sunday. A recent Malagueñan
tradition, started in 1981, shows the Virgen del Carmen embracing
all lovers of the sea - including scuba divers. That year, the City
scuba diving club placed an image of their patron at the bottom
of the sea and since then divers have paid their underwater homage
annually.
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Virgin del Carmen, Barbate. |
The festival is especially important in the fishing
villages of neighbouring Rincon de la Victoria and La Cala, both
of which have the Virgen
del Carmen as their town patron.
To understand why the Virgen del Carmen should be
held so dear to the inhabitants of towns such as Estepona, Velez
Malaga, Torremolinos and Rincon de la Victoria, we need to go back
to the Old Testament. Downshifting in his old age, the prophet Elias
retreated to a cave in Mount Carmelo near Haife (Israel). Many centuries
later, hermits following in Elijah's footsteps asked for the protection
of the Virgin Mary of Mount Carmelo - the Virgin of Carmen. Stella
Maris, as she was also known, was soon adopted by mariners and fishermen
everywhere as their patron.
Although long overtaken by tourism, many Costa towns
still retain fishing communities and a strong attachment to "la
Reina de los Mares" (the Queen of the Seas). It was once believed
- perhaps in the days before water-purifying plants! - that the
Virgin cleared up the waters with her presence and that only after
July 16 would the sea be fit for swimming in.
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