The Romería de la Bajada de la Virgen del Socorro, is a

romeria Christianity has a strong tradition of pilgrimages, both to sites relevant to the New Testament narrative (especially in the Holy Land) and to sites associated with later saints or miracles. History Christian pilgrimages were first made to si ...

of popular character that is held in September in the town of

Güímar Güímar () is the name of a municipality, town and valley in the eastern part of the Spanish island of Tenerife, one of the Canary Islands, and part of Santa Cruz de Tenerife (province). The municipality extends for 102.9 square kilometers from ...

Tenerife Tenerife (; ; formerly spelled ''Teneriffe'') is the largest and most populous island of the Canary Islands. It is home to 43% of the total population of the archipelago. With a land area of and a population of 978,100 inhabitants as of Janu ...

( Canary Islands,

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

). This festival also declared ''Regional Tourist Interest''. It is considered the oldest romeria of Canary IslandsBajada de la Virgen de El Socorro
/ref> is also one of the most popular. This festival is dedicated to the Our Lady of Help (''Virgen del Socorro''), which is on the island a derivation of the invocation of the

Virgin of Candelaria The Virgin of Candelaria or Our Lady of Candle ( es, Virgen de Candelaria or ''Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria''), popularly called ''La Morenita'', celebrates the Virgin Mary on the island of Tenerife, one of the Canary Islands (Spain). The cent ...

. This is because recounts the legend that when the mencey (

Guanche Guanche may refer to: *Guanches, the indigenous people of the Canary Islands *Guanche language, an extinct Berber language, spoken by the Guanches until the 16th or 17th century *''Conus guanche ''Conus guanche'' is a species of sea snail, a ma ...

king) tried to pick up the image of the Virgin of Candelaria after its discovery, the size experienced a great weight and had to ask for help or assistance to transport it to its cave-palace. The romeria is a huge procession in which he moved to the Virgin of Help from the Church of Saint Peter of Güímar to the coast in the place where the original image of the Virgin of Candelaria was found. On the coast a theatrical performance of the discovery of the image is performed. This festival is held every year between 7 and 8 September.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Romeria del Socorro Christian pilgrimages Canarian culture Tenerife