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El Rocio Pilgromage
By Jo Williams
This is a strange outpost of the Wild West, with
wide, sandy streets lined with houses complete with broad verandahs
and wooden rails for tying up horses. It's famous for its annual
romería, the Rocío
Pilgrimage at Pentecost when it is overflowing with a seething
mass of a million pilgrims with horses and decorated carts.
The rest of the year it is a veritable ghost town,
its streets almost eerily deserted except for mainly weekend visitors.
This is because most of its larger buildings are dedicated to the
various hermandades (brotherhoods), which number nearly 100, of
Andalucía and are only used around the time of the romería.
Most of the other houses are also only occupied
by families who come for the pilgrimage. It's interesting reading
the tiled plaques on these houses, which are dedicated to the member
of the family who built them.
It's worth a visit purely to soak up this rather
peculiar and unique atmosphere. The huge church, the Ermita
or Sanctuario de Nuestra Señora de El Rocío,
its size completely at odds with a village the size of El Rocío,
dominates the main dusty square. Destroyed in the 1755 Lisbon earthquake,
it was rebuilt in the 60s. Inside is the wooden figure of the revered
Virgen del Rocío.
Due to the insatiable demand to light candles in
the church, you can only pay for electric 'candles' inside. But
visit the small room at the lake side of the church if you want
to light a wax candle; the ceiling and walls are stained black with
smoke from the mulitude of candles lit here every year. A fan is
on constantly to dispel the smoke, while industrial quantities of
wax cake the candle holders.
Around the church are lots of souvenir shops selling
pilgrimage-related paraphernalia. This is also the place to buy
the latest fashions for the pilgrimage. These change yearly and
the only way to ensure that your flamenco attire is at the cutting
edge of the Rocío trend is to buy it here and not elsewhere
in Andalucía.
There are a handful of places to stay, but during
the time of the Pilgrimage it is impossible to find anywhere to
stay without booking well in advance and the prices of the rooms
soar astronomically.
As El Rocío sits right on the northwestern
edge of the Parque Nacional de Doñana, it's
in an area rich in wildlife. The village itself is located on the
Marismas del Rocío, a marshland area where
there are many birds, particularly in spring, including flamingoes,
herons and storks. Near the church running alongside the wetlands
is the Paseo Marismeño, an excellent birdwatching spot.
El Rocío is also a good base to explore the
park. The nearest entry point to the park is only about 10km away
from El Rocío at El Acebuche. About 1km south of the village
just off the main A483 road to Matalascañas is the Centro
de Información Las Rocinas, an information centre about the
Parque Nacional
Doñana. From the centre are some walks with birdwatching
hides.
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