To say that the Romeria de San Cecilio in Sacromonte yesterday was packed out is an understatement; the queues were interminable and finding somewhere to sit almost an impossible quest.
In fact, we didn’t even manage to get up to the Abadía but stayed in the large area of flat land (just below the Camino de Siete Cuestas) where there was a bar and a stage. We had brought our own bocadillos but there was not one scrap of grass to sit down upon – it was a seething sea of humanity but… that’s what Spaniards like, it seems, being a gregarious people.

One queue began even before the esplanada but for those that wish to continue up to the abadía there was another one, for those that favoured shuffling along, uphill in a queue for a few hundred yards to reach the building.

But the weather was perfect, sunshine but not too hot nor cold and the bar on the lower area was serving raw broad beans with dried-salted cod and a sort of salty biscuit (salaillas). You would also expect to receive un sablazo (over charged) at the bar but it was all reasonably priced.

Of course, to get to Sacromonte, it was a perfect winter’s Sunday to see the city, from Los Reyes Católicos, through to La Plaza de Santa Ana, La Carrera del Darro, El Paseo de Padre Majón and then at the end of the Paseo de Los Tristes the climb up to the Albacín before forking off to Sacromonte. It’s the best time to visit Granada; on a winter’s day with the sun shining.
The City Hall had pulled out all the stops to facilitate the river of people strolling up through the streets and on the esplanade there were porta-toilets and plenty of wastebins. Along the way up, the bars taverns, restaurants, cuevas, tablaos, and even the museums were open. The City Hall had also provided 3,500 salt buiscuits, 180 salted cods and literally tonnes of broad beans, fresh from the vega.
Credit where credit is due, as the City Hall had gone all out to provide extra wastebins & hoppers and 22 officers belonging to the Policía Local to help out all those hundreds of visitors with a thousand questions.
(News: Sacromonte, Granada, Andalucia)
Keywords: Romeria, San Cecilio, Sacromonte, Los Reyes Católicos, La Plaza de Santa Ana, La Carrera del Darro, El Paseo de Padre Majón, Paseo de Los Tristes, Albacín
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