The Romería de la Bajada de la Virgen del Socorro, is a romeria of popular character that is held in September in the town of Güímar in

Tenerife Tenerife ( ; ; formerly spelled ''Teneriffe'') is the largest and most populous island of the Canary Islands, an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain. With a land area of and a population of 965,575 inhabitants as of A ...

(

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; ) or Canaries are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean and the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, Autonomous Community of Spain. They are located in the northwest of Africa, with the closest point to the cont ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

). This festival also declared ''Regional Tourist Interest''. It is considered the oldest romeria of Canary IslandsBajada de la Virgen de El Socorro
/ref> is also one of the most popular. This festival is dedicated to the

Our Lady of Help Our Mother of Perpetual Succour (), colloquially known as Our Lady of Perpetual Help), is a Catholic Church, Catholic Titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, title of the Blessed Virgin Mary associated with a 15th-century Byzantine art, Byzantine ico ...

(''Virgen del Socorro''), which is on the island a derivation of the invocation of the

Virgin of Candelaria The Virgin of Candelaria or Our Lady of Candelaria ( or ''Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria'') (), popularly called ''La Morenita'', celebrates the Virgin Mary on the island of Tenerife, one of the Canary Islands (Spain). The center of worship is l ...

. This is because recounts the legend that when the

mencey The Guanche were the Indigenous peoples, indigenous inhabitants of the Spain, Spanish Canary Islands, located in the Atlantic Ocean some to the west of modern Morocco and the North African coast. The islanders spoke the Guanche language, which i ...

(

Guanche Guanche may refer to: *Guanches, the indigenous people of the Canary Islands *Guanche language, an extinct language, spoken by the Guanches until the 16th or 17th century *''Conus guanche ''Conus guanche'' is a species of sea snail, a marine ga ...

king) tried to pick up the image of the Virgin of Candelaria after its discovery, the size experienced a great weight and had to ask for help or assistance to transport it to its cave-palace. The romeria is a huge procession in which he moved to the Virgin of Help from the Church of Saint Peter of Güímar to the coast in the place where the original image of the Virgin of Candelaria was found. On the coast a theatrical performance of the discovery of the image is performed. This festival is held every year between 7 and 8 September.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Romeria del Socorro Christian pilgrimages Culture of the Canary Islands Tenerife