The patron goes on a pilgrimage

In the majority of towns the patron saints are taken out onto the streets once or twice a year. In the case of Mijas however, you could say that the patron Virgin, Our Lady of the Rock, spends practically the whole time doing the rounds of the town, to the delight of her followers. The old part of the town maintains the tradition of passing around a small replica carving in its wooden case.

The tradition goes back numerous decades, as the oldest local residents remember this pilgrimage as something that was already well established even when they were children. In recent years, the tradition was stopped while the structure in which the image is kept was being restored, as the wood had been damaged by its being constantly on the move. Now local people such as María Moreno can once again enjoy the presence of their patron in their homes. "For many the arrival of the virgin is a wonderful moment".

The carving is accompanied on its unusual journey by a prayer so that the devotees can have a moment of meditation during the 24 hours that, according to the tradition, the image spends in their home. "The usual time for passing on the image is around 8 p.m.", explain the locals.

Now the curious tour is subject to stricter controls than before. Anyone who wants the image to visit their home must register at the parish house or with the brotherhood. Alternatively they can also join the list when they know that Our Lady of the Rock is in their street. In this way, the next time she comes round the patron will spend a whole day in their home. Now, thanks to this new method, the complete tour from one side of Mijas Pueblo to the other, takes a whole year.

According to church representatives, keeping a list means that the image visits the homes of the local people who really want to have her. These days more properties are rented out and more people are coming to live in the old town centre from elsewhere and, for one reason or another, they don't take part in the tradition. Nevertheless the option is open and the Virgin spends many nights in the homes of people who were not born in Mijas.

There are a lot of foreigners and people who aren't from Mijas who are devout and want to enjoy the presence of the image. This is the case of María Marmolejo, who has lived in Mijas for more than three decades and remembers how she learned of the tradition: "I had only been here a few months and my sister-in-law had the image in her house. I live next door but one and so she asked me if I wanted to have her in my house and I was delighted".

The fact that the patron of Mijas has a lot of devout followers is demonstrated every year on September 8th when the streets are filled with people from all over the province for the official procession.