The apparition
The night the sea
brought a Virgin
On the night of 21–22 December 1502, the tower guard Andrés de Jaén was keeping watch over the coast from the tower of Torregarcía, east of the capital. That night, at the water's edge, an image of the Virgin appeared, carried in by the sea: a statue the watchman found on the beach, one that would change the city's devotion forever.
That image is the Virgen del Mar, proclaimed patroness of the city of Almería. Its finding, in the sand of Torregarcía, remained etched in Almería's memory as the starting point of a devotion that now spans more than five centuries.
That is why, every second Sunday of January, Almería returns to the exact place of the apparition. It is neither a summer fiesta nor a noisy crowd: it is a pilgrimage of low light and winter sea, the kind you walk slowly.
1502
the apparition on the beach of Torregarcía
2nd
Sunday of January, every year
1
open-air mass beside the hermitage
The way
From the basilica
to the shore
The pilgrimage links the two homes of the Virgen del Mar: the basilica that keeps her in the historic centre of Almería and the hermitage of Torregarcía, built on the coast east of the capital, next to Retamar, on the site of the apparition. The pilgrims leave the city and head towards the sea, passing the coastal village of Retamar before reaching the hermitage, alone between the beach and the sky.
Each year's programme is published by the Hermandad de la Virgen del Mar, the brotherhood that organises the pilgrimage and keeps the devotion alive all year round.
1
Basilica of the Virgen del Mar
The departure, from the historic centre of Almería, where the patroness is venerated the rest of the year.
2
Retamar
The passage along the coastal village: the way opens onto the sea and the air begins to taste of salt.
3
Hermitage of Torregarcía
The destination: open-air mass, folklore and shared celebration on the shore where the image appeared.
The day of the romería
Mass, folklore and rice
facing the Mediterranean
Once at Torregarcía, the day unfolds with the calm of the Almería winter: an open-air mass beside the hermitage, with the sea as a backdrop, and then the fiesta. Folklore groups perform, and traditional gastronomy takes over the beach: rice dishes and migas prepared and shared at the water's edge, among families, peñas and pilgrims.
It is one of the most singular scenes in Almería's calendar: a January pilgrimage under the gentle sun of the southeast, where devotion, music and a shared table live side by side, a few metres from the water.
The patroness
The Virgen del Mar,
from January to August
The January pilgrimage is not Almería's only date with its patroness. In summer, the city turns to her again: the Feria de Almería, in late August, is also held in honour of the Virgen del Mar. Two seasons, two atmospheres — the quiet winter shore and the buzz of the feria nights — for one devotion that shapes Almería's year.
Practical information
Planning your visit
Photographs: ANE, Olea, Almeriense33 · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY / CC BY-SA