The Diocese of the Canary Islands has appointed the 30th of November of 2024 as the start of the pilgrimage of the image of Lanzarote’s patron saint from Mancha Blanca, where it normally resides, to Arrecife on a route of approximately 18 kilometres. The Virgin’s image will remain until the 8th of December, the day of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception, when it will return to its home.
Think of the Los Dolores Pilgrimage but in reverse: rather than the pilgrims travelling from all corners of the island to Los Dolores to pay their respect to the Virgin, it’s the Virgin’s image that crosses the island from Los Dolores to meet her worshipers in the capital of the island.
The Descent of the Virgin is a deep-roted tradition across all the Canary Islands as a homage to the times when its population would turn to their faith when facing extreme situations such as droughts, volcanic eruptions, epidemics, famines or plagues.
Although this tradition occurs every four, five or seven years in other islands, in Lanzarote it’s only the third time this is happening. The first one took place in 1939 and the second one in 1965 -59 years ago!- where 25,000 people gathered in Arrecife to receive the Virgin’s image.
This is a video of the last descent, from 1965:
On this occasion, the Virgin , on her way to Arrecife, will make some stops in the municipalities of Teguise and San Bartolomé and especially in front of the volcano of Tao, as this year marks the 200th anniversary of its eruption.
Here you can see the itinerary and the full programme of activities of the pilgrimage, in Spanish:
Whether you are a devout Christian or not, this is certainly a massive historical milestone for Lanzarote.
