El Rocio

Rocio is a popular girl’s name in Sevilla. Typically, names ending in “o” are male names. (Female names end in “a.”) Rocio is a girl’s name because “El Rocio” is a manifestation of the Virgin. Hundreds of years ago, a hunter found a statue of the Virgin in a tree trunk near the village of El Rocio, which is near Doñana, the wildlife refuge that extends to the Atlantic coast. In the days before Pentecost, people from all over Andalucía take the pilgrimage to El Rocio.

The church of El Rocio in Huelva. We saw this church on our way to and from the beach last week. It sits on the edge of a beautiful marsh.

A couple of Sevilla hermandades (brotherhoods) begin the pilgrimage together – leaving from their churches in the city. My friend, Mario, called to give me a heads up about one of the brotherhoods that was going through our neighborhood. I saw the Macarena hermandad go through on their way to El Rocio. Later I walked through Los Remedios to see the San Salvador hermandad leaving the city. (I walked so far I felt like I’d completed half the pilgrimage myself.)

The processions out of Sevilla look similar to the pasos of Semana Santa, but everyone wears what looks like their Feria costumes. Mario informed me that it’s actually special garb just for the Rocio pilgrimage. Women wear a skirt and top – unlike the one-piece Feria dress – and the skirt is roomy for walking over terrain. Many also wear boots and a small leather purse around the waist – for trail mix, I assume. It was odd to see all the women in cheerful flamenco-looking dresses taking a religious pilgrimage. Not surprisingly, going to Rocio involves lots of drinking, eating and general merry-making.

The procession of people, animals and carts to Rocio includes: many people on foot, a cart on wheels with an image of the Virgin, and horses, donkeys, oxen and vehicles pulling mini covered wagons with people inside. People essentially camp out in these wagons (it’s about 60 miles to El Rocio), so they are stocked with plenty of refreshments and comforts.



As I watched this strange procession move down the street in Sevilla, I turned to the woman next to me to ask what the mini covered wagons were. She assumed I was asking about the whole shebang, so she began telling me about hermandades, etc. I wanted to hear her explanation, so I just listened. She began to talk about Rocio, the Virgin, and I could tell she was a practicing Catholic. She told me that some people go to El Rocio to ask forgiveness for their sins. She said, “If you have any troubles in your life, you can go her and she will help you.” She said she has 3 kids and 6 grandkids and she’s 73-years-old, so Rocio has kept her and her family kept her healthy and protected. When I looked in her eyes, I could see she was completely sincere; she was telling me all this out of compassion. That was the first time I’ve had a conversation with a Spaniard about her tangible faith.

The Virgin of El Rocio