Bringing down of the Virgin of Los Reyes

On the first Saturday in July, every four years, the island of El Hierro, in the Canary Islands, celebrates their most important festivity in which the Virgin of Los Reyes (patron saint of the island) is carried in procession down from the shrine to Villa de Valverde, for 28.7 km.

The Virgin is accompanied by dancers dressed in traditional red and white costumes, and multicoloured hats, and by the sound of "chácaras" (type of castanets) and drums. Practically the entire island comes to celebrate, with thousands of people gathering. It starts at the Los Reyes Shrine (on the western end of the island), and then there is a popular lunch (the "tendida de los manteles" - the spreading of tablecloths, in La Cruz de los Reyes) and they reach Valverde in the evening. The festivity lasts a month, during which the image of the Virgin visits the most important towns in the island, and on the first Saturday in August it is taken back to its shrine.