It is not that the account is very strict, but it is generally accepted that the pilgrimage to the Holy Face of Alicante is the second most massive in Spain -in 2019 the City Council assured that more than 300,000 people had participated-, after that of Rocío. This was proclaimed last year by Bishop Munilla, who made his debut in the square and must know something about religious festivals.
Because, although it may not seem like it at times, although many of those who participate in the celebration and make the walk lack Christian faith and come to follow a tradition rooted in the city and in their families, the raison d'être of the matter is the existence of a relic that is kept in a hermitage about seven kilometers from the urban area of Alicante.
As the author Federico Sala explains in his book La verdad sobre la Faz Santa, "the Gospels tell us nothing about that pious woman who, compassionate for the suffering of Jesus, offered him her veil to wipe her bloody face, but an uninterrupted tradition has come down to our time, venerating the images of that face that was engraved in the three folds of that veil.One is in Rome, another in Jaén and the third, which is the one that concerns us, in the Monastery of the Holy Face of Alicante".
In 1489, due to a severe drought, a procession was organized on March 17, from San Juan to the sanctuary of Ntra. Sra. de los Ángeles. This is how Federico Sala relates it: "After having walked about a quarter of a league, when passing the small ravine of Lloixa, the priest who was carrying the Holy Face in his hands, felt such a weight in his arms that he could not hold them up, At the same time that he lost the movement of his feet, having to be helped by other priests, who took him to a small height beyond the ravine.Once there, all those present could see how a tear came out of the right eye of the Holy Face stood on the cheek, growing in such a way that even those who were furthest away could see it."
A small temple was built right there, which fell into ruins and was demolished in 1748, leaving room for the current one, which was inaugurated in 1766 and where the sacred linen was deposited.
The replica of the Santa Faz and the image of the Virgen del Remedio will depart today, shortly after eight in the morning, from the Black Gate of the Co-Cathedral of San Nicolás to the monastery of Santa Faz, where the Bishop of Orihuela-Alicante , José Ignacio Munilla, will preside over the Campaign Mass in the village square. The celebration of the 25th Anniversary of the Pontifical Coronation of the Patron Saint of Alicante makes the replica of the Sacred Canvas and the Virgen del Remedio coincide in the Pilgrim as it happened on April 23, 1998.
Manuel Jiménez, councilor for Fiestas, assures that "the good weather forecasts, leaving behind last year's downpour, the definitive absence of sanitary restrictions and the fact that the Patron Saint participates in the Pilgrimage, suggest that it will be a Pilgrim that will exceed the figures for the years prior to the pandemic”.
The City Council will distribute 15,000 rosemary canes, starting at 7 in the morning, between the main façade of the Town Hall, the Plaza del Abad Penalva and the Black Door of the Co-Cathedral of San Nicolás. For those who cannot -or do not want to- walk, there will be a bus every five minutes between the Puerta del Mar and the village, and back, from eight in the morning to half past nine at night. It will continue on Saturday 22 and Sunday 23 April with a frequency of 20 minutes.
At the Municipal Paraeta, located in front of the Vistahermosa Complex, 1,200 kilos of aniseed rolls will be distributed, made in a wood-fired oven. In addition, 900 liters of mistela. It will offer service from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. The traditional part of the procession will be opened by the 'gegants' Nicolauet and Remediets, representing the patrons of Alicante. It will be enlivened by the Sant Antoni group.
The Department of Security and Traffic of the City Council has organized a device between four in the morning and twelve at night, in which 500 Local Police officers will participate, to guarantee the public safety of pilgrims throughout the holiday both on the route, and in the vicinity of the monastery and the celebration of mass. As well as 150 Civil Protection volunteers from Alicante and 10 Province Groups, 12 SPEIS firefighters, and 15 Red Cross volunteers.
As has been done in recent years to avoid past rampages, when hundreds of supermarket carts made the journey and ended up on beaches and fields gorged with alcohol that a large part of the local youth brought to drink without any sense of measure, the agents They will pay special attention to adolescents who try to repeat behavior that has become a serious problem.
The celebration of the local and regional elections in May means that, if the presence of authorities and political positions of all signs and conditions is common, it multiplies every four years: we are in the run-up to the campaign and nobody wants to miss the opportunity offered by the presence of all the media at the event to highlight your message.
This year, extra attention will have to be paid to the episcopal homily, because the head of the square, José Ignacio Munilla, is inclined to participate in the political debate and in recent times has not hesitated to lash out at one and the other for their position on the abortion, the trans law or, in his last intervention, the announcement that the Sareb flats will be used to alleviate the housing crisis: "It seems very good to me," he said two days ago, "but why has it been waited for the election year, instead of doing it four years ago, haven't all those flats been empty and useless all this time?"
