Malaga town honours patron with four days of festivities and a traditional pilgrimage

As in several other municipalities in Malaga, and those further afield, Cártama enjoyed its festivities at the weekend in honour San Isidro Labrador, the town’s patron.

The celebrations began on Thursday (15 May), when hundreds of locals and visitors, many dressed in typical Andalusian attire, took to the streets of Cártama Estación to embrace four days of festive activities concentrated around the El Cruce shopping centre.

These included dance performances, concerts and flamenco recitals, competitions, a pétanque tournament and children’s activities, as well as traditional cuisine and local folklore demonstrations.

The main procession of San Isidro Labrador took place on Thursday, when the iconic image, accompanied by the Carlos Álvarez municipal band, was carried through the streets of the town and on to its shrine.

The weekend’s most important event took place on Sunday, the traditional romería (pilgrimage), which began with a ‘rociero’ mass at the San Isidro Labrador and Santa María de la Cabeza church at 10am.

Dozens of brightly decorated carts trundled through the streets followed by hundreds of cheerful revellers, who danced and sang sevillanas and light flamenco all the way to the banks of the Guadalhorce river. Here, an afternoon of fun and entertainment was enjoyed by a steady flow of pilgrims, along with the competition for the ‘best decorated cart’.

San Isidro was a Spanish farm worker known for his piety toward the poor land workers and their animals. His real name was Isidro de Merlo y Quintana and he was said to have possessed mysterious powers because he was often accompanied by a pair of angels.