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Tradition and culture have their own space in the calendar of Islantilla, Lepe and Isla Cristina. From the riot of color at the Isla Cristina Carnival and the Pilgrimage of Beauty in Lepe, to the celebration of Holy Week in both towns, each season of the year has its charm, and those who visit Islantilla can immerse themselves in their customs thanks to the hospitality of its people.
Isla Cristina experiences this celebration with special intensity with an excessive presence in the street, and with a theater program that features the most recognized groups in the province and throughout Spain. This festival dates back to the 18th century, and it is a cultural and social manifestation that demonstrates the charm of the inhabitants of this area. Light and color fill every corner of the town, which throughout almost the entire month of February gives itself over to the party without a break.
This religious commemoration has its main hallmarks in fervor and meditation. Both Lepe and Isla Cristina celebrate the Great Week of the Passion of Christ with great devotion with processions in the purest Andalusian style, and with penitence stations that soak their streets in silence and prayer. The most beautiful images are covered in steps along centuries-old urban routes.
Maximum exponent of lepero folklore that takes place every second weekend in May.
The festivities begin with the transfer of the simpecado from the hermitage, located next to the port of Terrón. Later, an impressive offering of flowers to the virgin takes place. On Saturday afternoon, the festival continues with the transfer of the virgin to the Hermitage of the Terrón in a silver carriage pulled by oxen. On Monday evening, the Virgin begins her journey back to Lepe.
The Patron Saint of sailors is highly revered in this corner of the Andalusian coast, as is evident in the celebrations that are repeated throughout the summer season in both La Antilla and Isla Cristina. The Virgin is carried in a procession through the streets of these towns, and carried on her shoulders along the beach and by boat, in clear allusion to the protection she provides to the fishermen in the area.
From August 14 to 16, the patron saint festivities are celebrated in Lepe in honor of the Virgin Bella and San Roque, summer commemorations in which all the prominence is given to the night with dances to the sound of orchestras, performances by renowned groups for young people, processions on the 15th with the Virgen de la Bella through the streets of the center, accompanied by thousands of leperos and visitors, and on the 16th the procession of San Roque.
These are the patron saint festivities of Isla Cristina, and take place on October 7 of each year, with a succession of religious and cultural events with a great tradition in the town. The image that is the object of this cult is a carving of an anonymous work that dates back to the 16th century. XVIII.
