Thousands of people have gathered like every September 7 at dawn in front of the church of San Pedro in the town of Güímar, in Tenerife, to attend the traditional departure of the Bajada de la Virgen del Socorro, the first step of this pilgrimage. image (representing the Virgin of Candelaria) from the valley towards the village that bears her name on the coast. This pilgrimage, which is the oldest in the Canary Islands, pays homage to the legend that recounts the meeting of some Guanche shepherds with a carving of the Virgin of Candelaria stranded in the sand of the nearby Chimisay beach.
Carrying the traditional sprig of basil, the pilgrims, some dressed like the Guanches of the legend, and accompanied by the sound of the voladores and the bucios, have drunk the traditional broth at the beginning of the path, at 07:00 in the morning, when the Virgin has left the temple, and they have started the route in the direction of the sea. Full house in the Plaza de San Pedro to see the Virgin come out.
Along the way this September 7, revelers and pilgrims of all ages arriving from all parts of the island have distributed food and drink, they have passed by the Montaña Grande and, leaving aside the bad country, they have reached the village by the sea. There, in the hermitage, the festival and the acts of homage to that meeting that occurred in the fifteenth century have continued.
In El Socorro the virgin will spend the next few hours, until she returns to her temple after making the call Rise.
These are some of the images left by this day, enlivened as every year by the pasodoble To the Help.
