Pilgrimage of the Virgin of Fátima

A pilgrimage to the shrine of the Virgen de Fátima —popularly known as the Virgen del Cerro—, atop the Cerro del Calvario in Restábal, with music, a countryside meal and popular devotion. It is held on the Sunday after 13 May and is one of the village’s most deeply rooted celebrations.

The Virgen de Fátima, brought to the village in the 1960s, is popularly known as the Virgen del Cerro because its shrine sits atop the Cerro del Calvario. On the day of the pilgrimage, the image is carried in procession up from the Church of San Cristóbal, escorted by pipers, drummers and groups on horseback; in the preceding days the villagers clean the mantle and tidy the paths and markers — the “preparing the hill” that is kept up generation after generation.

Groups go up in family parties along different tracks with donkeys and decorated carts. Along the way, private houses such as Casa Blanca hand out valley oranges, sweet wine and homemade doughnuts. Once at the top: a pilgrimage mass, a countryside meal, a ribbon race on horseback, the handing out of blessed bread and evening dancing with a band. In the mid-afternoon, the image returns accompanied only by the beat of the drum; as it enters Restábal, the sung Salve before the church façade closes the day.

For visitors: comfortable footwear, arrive early — the procession starts promptly at 09:30 — and respect the traditions. Vehicle access to the hill is restricted; the climb is done on foot, on horseback or by transport organised by the brotherhood.