The Cristo de la Luz (Holy Christ of the Light) of Dalias is undoubtedly the most venerated image of the province of Almeria, capable of carrying thousands of pilgrims who fill the roads up to Dalías the days before the procession.
Particularly impressive on Saturday night to Sunday, in which a stream of pilgrims from El Ejido and Almería climb to the beautiful Dalías .
That night the church of Christ is crowded of devotes, in a scene reminiscent to those of the El Rocío hermitage but with no such massification.
The procession takes place between 21h and 0h, and everything in it is memorable: the fire, and thousands of rockets that are shot (even from private homes), the great bands of trumpets and drums, the superb sculpture of Christ .. . and above all the fervor of the thousands of pilgrims.
It is one of the most spectacular festivals in Andalusia: as these were traditional mining lands the miners used to celebrate their protector Christ even with sticks of dynamite. Today there are thousands of rockets and flares, which cause a heady atmosphere of light, fireworks, explosions ...
The best plan
Spend all weekend in Almeria, enjoying the warm September in solitary beaches, from Cape Gata to the nearby Roquetas de Mar. Also the fascinating mountains: the Alpujarras and the Sierra de los Filabres. Thus, the traveler may get on Saturday afternoon to Dalias, admire its beauty (a white, whitewashed houses and remarkably well integrated into the landscape the white greenhouses at the foot of the towering Sierra de Gador) and see the fervor that awakens the Christ.
On Sunday, arriving before 20h to park in Dalias will allow the visitor to fully enjoy the procession. The bravest should wait for the Christ in the church square in the middle of the rockets and "bombs"(which remind the dynamite of the miners that began to worship the Christ back in the eighteenth century).
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How does the procession work
On Sunday, arriving before 20h to park in Dalias will allow the visitor to fully enjoy the procession.It takes place between 21h and 0h, and everything in it is memorable: the fire, the thousands of rockets that are shot (even from private homes), the great bands of trumpets and drums, the superb sculpture of Christ .. . and above all the fervor of the thousands of pilgrims.
The bravest should wait for the Christ in the church square in the middle of the rockets and "bombs"(which remind the dynamite of the miners that began to worship the Christ back in the eighteenth century).
It is a unique experience, but the suffocating smoke and the smell of gunpowder, spooky because the ground shakes with explosions, and scorching, as sparks and ash fall from the thousands of rockets exploding over the square.
Important: keep the mouth open to protect the eardrums of the explosions. Devotees also raise their hands in total surrender to Christ, that protects them the entire year and especially in the heat of explosions and fire that exists in its exit.
After that, the procession passes peacefully and calmly can enjoy the extraordinary music of trumpets and drums bands, the tapas and the rockets that continue to celebrate the Christ in their path, from the roofs of many houses, which seem "anti-aircraft batteries."
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