Mother and Child Reunion - Nuestra Señora de los Santos visits Alcalá

Mother's Day in Spain is celebrated on the first Sunday in May.  This is the month of the Virgin Mary, and who better to represent motherhood with all its joys and sorrows? In Alcalá the local representation of the mother of Jesus, Nuestra Señora de los Santos, arrived yesterday on her quadrennial visit to the pueblo of which she is patron.  Her image was transported on an ox-drawn cart from the Santuario where it is normally kept, a few miles from the town, accompanied by hundreds of alcalaínos in festive mood and a band comprised of fifes and drums.

Meanwhile back in the town the image of Jesús el Nazareno was carried from the newly restored Franciscan church on the Alameda, known as La Victoria, down the steep street named after the Virgin - Calle Nuestra Señora de los Santos.

Eventually the two came together on the Prado, a stretch of meadowland next to the the Rio Barbate. The whole process has taken about six hours so far but we're not finished yet.  María was transferred from the ox-cart to a platform borne by a team of sturdy men, and mother and son were carried back up the hill. (Note the man with a long yellow pole to lift the electricity cables out of the way.)

After a couple more hours the procession reached the Alameda and Jesus returned to his resting place in the Casa de la Hermandad del Nazareno. María was carried on along Calle Real, accompanied by a considerable number of devoted followers, up the hill to the church of San Jorge, arriving after nightfall. In the coming week she will visit local neighbourhoods and schools, and in a few weeks time she will return to the Santuario.  

Although this is clearly a religious event, organised by the local Catholic brotherhoods, it is far from sombre, much like the September Romería which is also in honour of La Virgen. It's a great big celebratory party in true Andalusian style - the music is playing, the booze is flowing, women dress up in traditional costume, the horsemen show off their riding skills, and nobody seems to get tired.

Why is she so popular, especially among women?  The cult of the mother-goddess predates Marianism by millennia. Every culture seems to need a female figure to worship - the embodiment of motherhood, fertility and compassion.  María fills the roll perfectly. She feels your pain, listens to your prayers and (unlike the priest) does not judge. Little wonder then that in places like Spain she has been appropriated by the established Church to win over the hearts of the masses. She even evokes affection in a die-hard atheist like me. Viva la Virgen!

With thanks to Chemary Gomez Reyes and Alexandra Rutishauser Perera for the use of their photos.