The most noteworthy part of this celebration is the nocturnal procession with the statue of the patron saint.

Llanes , in Asturias, celebrates the Virgen de la Guía patron saint’s fiesta in September. The most noteworthy part of the event is the nocturnal procession on 7 September. Hundreds of women accompany the statue of the patron saint on its route, wearing the classic Spanish mantilla. Children make a floral offering to the Virgin (the “ramu”). The young men, for their part, carry carefully prepared pyramids of bread, which are then auctioned just before the start of the procession.

The following day is the procession that takes the Virgin back to her shrine in Campo de la Guía. This is when you can hear the Bando de la Guía, filling every corner of Llanes with the sound of tambourines and regional music. On the same day, town residents, dressed in provincial costumes, go to meet the “wood train”, carrying hundreds of travellers from Mieres to join in the fiesta of their neighbouring town. There are plenty of folk groups playing music for traditional regional dances, and the music of “Los Nardos”, the anthem that characterises the festivities. There are also ancestral customs such as the plantes de hogueras, where a huge tree trunk is placed in the town square.