Virgen del Carmen in Marbella

Virgen del Carmen Festival in Marbella

If the Virgen del Carmen is safe anywhere on the Costa del Sol it would have to be Marbella. There the image of the Virgin is kept 12 metres underground in a vault. Thankfully, she sees the light of day every July 16 on her own very special day, one that is celebrated up and down the Coasts of Andalucia.

One week before the Virgen del Carmen processions there is a mass held in her honour with a choir that sings and a prize at the end for the oldest retired fisherman in town.

Then, one week later on July 16 the Virgen del Carmen festivities take place with a procession over land and out into the sea.

At the first light of day, 06.30 the Virgin del Carmen leaves the church of La Encarnación, carried by the members of the Brotherhood, the Rosary of the Dawn (Rosary of the Aurora) in a procession to the Cable beach.

The usual route takes the streets of Trinidad, Salinas and Arte to Puente Málaga, where it passes through Plaza Blas Infante, where an altar is erected. In Calle Sol, the Virgen del Carmen continues to Avenida Severo Ochoa and the streets of Paco Palma and Fuengirola. A few minutes before 08:00, she arrives at Cable Beach, where, since 2012, the mass on the sand begins. This is an appropriate time to celebrate a beach mass in July in Marbella. After the mass, the Virgen del Carmen is carried out to sea. The traditional breakfast of churros and chocolate is then served by the members of the Brotherhood of the Virgen del Carmen.

After breakfast at about 11:00 hrs the Virgen del Carmen is returned to the church of the Encarnación via Avenida Miguel Cano and Avenida Ramón y Cajal where it enters the Old town via Calle Pedraza and via the Plaza de Los Naranjos to reach church of La Encarnación. This leg of the route the Virgin del Carment is carried by women.

In the afternoon, the procession is scheduled to start from the church of the Encarnación at 19:00 hours. The route will take in Calle Trinidad, Salinas, Arte, Nabeul, Severo Ochoa, Antonio Montero Sánchez, Duque de Ahumada, Miguel Cano, Ramón y Cajal, Huerta Chica, Plaza de la Victoria, Estación, Plaza de Los Naranjos, General Chinchilla, Carmen, Plaza de la Iglesia and the church.

• About the Virgen del Carmen processions in other towns of Andalucia
• About the traditional festivals in Andalucia