About El Rocío

The Romería de El Rocío is a religious, festive and cultural event that every year brings hundreds of thousands of people to the village of El Rocío, in Almonte (Huelva), to venerate the Virgen del Rocío, the Blanca Paloma.

It is held around the feast of Pentecost, with the central procession of the Virgin —the so-called «salto de la reja»— on the night from Sunday to Monday. The devotion is documented as far back as 1335, when the first reference to «Santa María de las Rocinas» appears; in 1724, six founding brotherhoods signed the agreement that organised the pilgrimage as we know it today.

The pilgrimage is organised around the brotherhoods, confraternities that make the journey carrying the Simpecado, the banner bearing the image of the Virgin. There are more than 120 filial brotherhoods of the Hermandad Matriz of Almonte, joined by rociero associations from all over Spain and even from other countries.

The pilgrimage is made on foot, on horseback or by cart. The atmosphere combines religious fervour —prayers and salves— with Andalusian folklore: sevillanas sung to the sound of guitars and clapping at every stop, shared meals and open-air fellowship. That mixed character, together with the passage through Doñana, is what makes El Rocío unique.