2023-04-21 10:46:44
Cáceres already smells like Mountain. The Bajada Procession, declared a Festival of Regional Tourist Interest by the Junta de Extremadura, is undoubtedly the central act of the Cacereña Spring and, as such, the city is decked out for that special occasion, which is on the verge of its celebration: the Next Wednesday, April 26. In fact, the road up to the sanctuary (from the Fuente Concejo climb to the San Marquino neighborhood) has been closed until noon today for the placement of metal arches that will be decorated with flowers to receive the patron saint. For the same reason, traffic will be cut off on Tuesday 25, throughout the day, on Tenerías and Caleros streets (which will be decorated with 4,000 blue and white paper flowers made by the residents).
A 17th century Virgin for a 21st century bridge
The Bajada Procession will begin at five in the afternoon with the departure of the carving from the sanctuary. Before, four brothers will acquire the status of veterans when they turn 65 and another four will be designated burden brothers. In addition, the former mayordomos will be named principal brothers Joaquín Floriano and Jesús María Larrazábal and former referee Fidel Valle. The Virgin descends on the shoulders of 120 brothers arranged in four shifts.
La Montaña, with one foot in its centenary, will honor César García, the local police and the Ukrainian people
The first stop on the processional route will take place in the Amparo, where after the act of greeting the Cofradía del Amparo, tribute will be paid to the former chief of the local police, César García González, who died on October 18, 2021. The declaimer will be his widow, Marilar León Fraile. Afterwards, the Virgin will parade across the East round bridge (she has been doing so since last year in homage to those responsible for Public Works who, when carrying out this work, took into account the measurements of the passage so that she would parade down the catwalk).
The baton of the mayor, Luis Salaya
The road to the Mountain is cut this Friday to put the decorative metal arches of the Bajada Procession
Another of the stellar moments of the Bajada is the arrival of the patron saint at Fuente Concejo, which is estimated at 7:30 p.m. There will be Luis Salaya, who will be in charge of delivering the baton to the Mountain, as honorary mayor who is throughout the novena. In 2020, in full confinement and with everyone at home, she left the Virgen de la Montaña, patron saint of the city of Cáceres, in her sanctuary. It would have been the year in which the mayor, Luis Salaya, after having won the elections, should have handed over the baton to Cacereña Bonita. It was not possible. It was done, on his behalf, by the local police.
In 2021, with the covid still lurking, the image returned to stay in the Sierra de la Mosca. And up to there the alderman went up starring in the historic photograph of a historic moment: the delivery of the cane to the honorary mayoress at the foot of her altarpiece, and not in Fuente Concejo, as tradition dictates.
In 2022 everything was ready for a Bajada procession as magnificent as expected, which took the Queen of Cáceres to Santa María. Again the covid did not want the mayor to be there because he contracted the virus. In 2023, the last of this legislature, Luis Salaya will come to receive the patron. He will do it in the post-covid period and with all the illusion in the world, as he confessed this morning during the official presentation of the novena.
In Caleros
The sastras of the flowers of the Mountain
The procession becomes equally emotional when the Virgin heads to Caleros, sister of honor of the brotherhood. This year it will look special since the usual neighborhood decoration and the Parks and Gardens service will be joined by the 4,000 blue and white paper flowers that have been made by the residents of the neighborhood.
To Santa Maria
La Tuna de Cáceres wins the Ronda and Soloista prizes at the Segovia contest
The Hermitage of El Vaquero, the Cuesta del Maestre, the Plaza de Santiago (with the homage of the scouts and the brotherhoods of the Nazarene and the Holy Supper), the Cuatro Esquinas with the performance of the Tuna de Cáceres (where the tunas are integrated of the different faculties and university schools of the city), the Plaza Mayor where the corporation is carried on the shoulders, and the arrival at Santa María make up the route of the Mountain in its entirety.
Throughout the novena (this is the name given to the nine days of worship that are celebrated in honor of the patron saint) tribute will be paid to the Armed Forces and the Alezeia Scout Group (April 27), the Food Bank (April 29), Ukrainian refugees (May 3), and the local police (May 5). On the 27th, the brotherhood will donate a cloak to the Virgen del Vaquero, whose brothers are fervent devotees of the patron saint.
The sale of bagels and the Besamanto
Fernández Rincón and José Antonio Ramos present the book of the patron saint in Cáceres
On May 5 and 6, the sale of bagels will take place at the gates of the Bishopric. The Besamanto will be on May 5 and 6, from eight in the morning to twelve at night. 23,000 stamps have been made, according to the people who are estimated to come to pay tribute to La Montaña on those days. This year, the image is illustrated by the confectioner of the Virgin that Maestro Solano donated to the brotherhood of the Mountain (it is kept at its headquarters). Solano was a universal man from Cáceres who, along with Quintero, León and Quiroga, was the composer of famous copla songs such as Miguel de Molina, Concha Piquer, Rocío Jurado and Isabel Pantoja.
The Ascent Procession and the cloaks
Fidel Valle and Felisa Rodríguez: more than deserved tribute from the Brotherhood of the Mountain
On May 7, Mother’s Day, Sunday, the Ascent Procession will take place. It will leave Santa María at nine in the morning and upon arrival at the sanctuary the traditional blessing of the fields will be held on the esplanade. Of course, it is expected that it will be very hot, so the pilgrimage mass that was held every Monday in honor of Francisco de Paniagua (the hermit from Casas de Millán who promoted the cult of the Virgin by imploring alms to build a chapel for her) will move to Sunday at five in the afternoon.
During the novena the patron saint will wear 11 of the 128 cloaks available. The one of the Bajada will be, as always, the one offered by the city of Cáceres at the silver jubilee of the canonical coronation on October 12, 1949the one of Besamato it will be number 130 (hand embroidered with gold thread, silk silver donated by Cándida Salomón Gómez and made by the Sisters of the Obra de Amor Congregation in January 2017), while in the Ascent Procession will wear 172, in blue guipure, a gift from Marisa Antequera Congregated to the Royal Brotherhood as a farewell to the butler Fernández Rincón in March 2023 (by the way, Rincón presented yesterday the patron’s book that he has written together with the researcher Jose Antonio Ramos Rubio).
To this list are added two, highlighted today by the brotherhood, donated by Cefot and the Food Bank. All of them have been agreed with the older waitress of the Virgin, Julita Herrera, who has been in charge of dressing the size since last year after the death of her predecessor, Pilar Murillo Díez.
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