Thousands of residents and tourists from the Mar Menor coast attended this Tuesday at the call of the Virgin of the Assumption, whose image blessed the lagoon, its fishermen and its people. The maritime and land processions, which the faithful celebrate every year, flooded the beaches of Los Alcázares and the Cartagena beaches of Los Nietos, Cabo de Palos and La Azohía, on a hot and very festive evening.
One of the most massive took place in Los Nietos, where around fifty boats, decked out with garlands and Spanish flags, wrapped up the Virgin of August. A delegation carried the image of Our Lady of the Assumption on their shoulders through the streets of the town from her temple to the yacht club. There she was embarked on the ‘Buenavista’, from the club’s sailing school. After an emotional, massive and popular maritime parade that ran along the coast to Lengua de la Vaca, the image returned to the port to celebrate a campaign mass. For the first time, a group of rowers participated, who did not want to miss the opportunity to receive the blessing of the Virgin. Later, by the same route that she arrived, she returned to the town church, where the faithful sang the Cartagena salve for her. The neighbors say goodbye to her parties today with a concert and fireworks.
In Cabo de Palos, after a morning of celebrations and activities, the fishermen carried the Virgin of the Sea on their shoulders through the streets of the town. The women and children showed off their typical costumes, with their headscarves, their aprons, their esparto baskets and their large shells, turned into improvised instruments for a few hours. Meanwhile, the men carried their patron on their shoulders. Later she was embarked on the ‘Punta del Cabo’ for a short tour of the bay. There she threw a wreath in memory of the deceased sailors.
On the shoulders of the neighbors
The procession was accompanied by several private boats and fishermen. Before her entrance to the church, those who held her on her shoulders, accompanied by all those who came there to see her collect herself, sang the sailor salute with tremendous emotion.
Likewise, there was a maritime procession and mass in La Azohía, within the festivities in honor of La Asunción, which take place in this town and on Isla Plana. On the shoulders of a dozen women, the image of the Virgin was carried to the edge of the pier. She was accompanied by a good number of faithful, who each year comply with this tradition. In her small throne, she was embarked on one of the ships of the Hermanos Paredes company, dedicated to the almadraba for decades. After touring the bay, she headed for Isla Plana, where the ship anchored for a few minutes so that the image could be adored by those who were waiting for her on the esplanade of the town church.
After that, he returned to La Azohía, where a mass was celebrated in his honor. Finally, and this time on the shoulders of a dozen men, he returned to his temple, where he will wait for his faithful until next year. In Puerto de Mazarrón, the devotees also paid tribute to the carving that is kept in the hermitage of La Isla.
Another of the coastal municipalities that honored its patron saint on Tuesday was Los Alcázares, which, as always, lived its big day with great intensity. The day began at 8:00 am with the audible awakening of rockets and music bands, which heralded a joyous festivity. At 11:00 a.m., the mass for the patron saint was made official before another homily was celebrated again, in this case, a seafaring one, as a prelude to the moment when the image was going to be uploaded to a boat to repeat the pilgrimage along the Mar Menor. .
For the second consecutive year, after the stoppage due to the pandemic, hundreds of devotees came to witness and show their affection for the Virgin of the Assumption amid applause and cheers of “beautiful”. The image toured a part of the lagoon accompanied by numerous neighbors aboard their boats, also decked out. During its passage, fireworks were launched to celebrate a celebration that began around 1930 when a group of fishermen and huertas asked permission to take the statue of the Virgin out into the sea as well.
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