Thousands of people took part early this morning in the Virgen del Rocío religious procession, which began just after 03.00 hours when participants jumped the fence and took the Virgin’s statue out of the hermitage. Even though organisers wanted to delay the jumping of the fence as much as possible, or even changing this ritual for the ancient tradition of an itinerant prayer through the town’s streets, pilgrims jumped the fence earlier than usual.

Once the statue has been paraded around the town and taken to the headquarters of all the different brotherhoods (102 in total), it will be returned to the hermitage after midday, ending the religious celebrations. Participants will then return to their hometowns.