Tourism in Spain: the Virgin of Pilar brings the Hispanic world to Zaragoza

The Virgin of the Pilar is not only the patron saint of Zaragoza: she is also that of Spain and of the entire Hispanic world. If the Pilar celebrations revolve around October 12, it is because the Spanish national holiday commemorates the day when Christopher Columbus set foot in America, October 12, 1492. In other words, it is better than August 15 and July 14 together: a super extended weekend, where Zaragoza becomes “ze place to be” for the rest of the country. Admittedly, the city does not yet expect to regain its pre-pandemic attendance, i.e. 300,000 visitors, but you will not feel alone!


Basilica and Plaza del Pilar: its Virgin is the patroness of Spain and the entire Hispanic world

Julie Daurel

Goya's cupola at the Basilica of the Pilar


Goya’s cupola at the Basilica of the Pilar

Julie Daurel

Things will start on Saturday October 8 at 7 p.m., with the parade of “peñas” (Editor’s note: groups of friends) converging on the huge Plaza del Pilar, one of the largest squares in Europe. A dense crowd will follow them to this 21,000 square meter “Saragoza salon”! All generations will wear the traditional “cachirulo” around their necks, the black and red checkered scarf embroidered with the image of the Virgin. Like a rock star, the latter will be everywhere. On the flags that hang from all the windows, in figurines in all the shop windows, on the breads, the special cakes that bakers and pastry chefs produce by the hundreds. The “cintas”, lucky ribbons measuring precisely 36.5 cm, the size of the Virgin, are sold by the thousands in all colors. Although today they are tied to car mirrors, suitcase handles and prams, the tradition dates back to 1677!

7 million flowers in 2018

At 9 p.m., it will be time for the “pregón”, inaugural speech, read from the balcony of the town hall, which declares the celebrations open, under the bursts of a first fireworks display. But it will be necessary to wait until October 12 for the real highlight of these festivals: the offering of flowers. It was in 1958 that a framework was given to this spontaneous donation by the faithful. For two hours, some 2,000 people placed a bouquet in front of an altar, placed outside the basilica. Until the filmmaker Bigas Luna (“Jamón, Jamón”) suggested, in 1998, to make the affair more spectacular by installing a metal pyramid 15 meters high by 16 wide in the heart of the Pilar square, to which the flower bouquets of the participants, hoisted in buckets, would be hung by a team of faithful. The success was immediate!

 For two hours, some 2,000 people lay a bouquet in front of an altar, placed outside the basilica


For two hours, some 2,000 people lay a bouquet in front of an altar, placed outside the basilica

Julie Daurel

In 2018, it is estimated that 7 million flowers were thus offered to the Virgin.


In 2018, it is estimated that 7 million flowers were thus offered to the Virgin.

Julie Daurel

Since then, after the dawn rosary, recited at 5 a.m. since the 18th century, the participants, drawn by lot from all over Spain, parade in the traditional costume of their region, dressed to the nines (the ceremony is broadcast on TV and on giant screens) and arms laden with flowers. In 2018, it is estimated that 7 million flowers were thus offered to the Virgin. Such fervor well deserved, when the pandemic canceled the 2020 edition, that the city of Zaragoza set up an online flower offering system who collected nearly 150,000. Roses, gladioli, white or red carnations, you chose your virtual flowers online, indicated your name, a little message to the Virgin, and presto! everything was displayed on the big screen! On October 12, return to the face-to-face offering and the joy of seeing, from mid-morning, these families, these groups of friends mix their beautiful costumes with jeans-sneakers in the squares, the forecourts of museums, café terraces throughout the city. Other important events: the fruit offering on October 13. Peaches from Calanda, cherries from Caspe, asparagus from Gallur or watermelons from Alfamén, the Virgin receives 7 tonnes of the region’s finest produce, which is then redistributed as food aid. In the afternoon, the Rosario de Cristal, meanwhile, will see 200 lanterns and 15 illuminated glass floats parade through the historic center.

Set of 500 coats

In the Basilica of the Pilar, the masses follow one another during all the festivals, and it will be necessary to slip between two to visit the places. “This cathedral is first a temple, then a monument,” recalls Don Ignacio, heritage director of Seo and Pilar. It draws attention to the Renaissance altarpiece of the high altar, in alabaster from the Ebro valley, the Plateresque choir in Flanders oak, sculpted in the 16th century by a Bas-Navarrese, Esteban de Obray. And, of course, the heart of the reactor: the chapel of the Virgin, where the faithful crowd. Better than Barbie, she has an array of 500 coats and wears a new one every day. On the nearby holy pillar, a golden circle indicates where it can be kissed. The general opinion, even if the pillar is concave from all the kisses received in the past, the Covid has slowed down the kissing ritual. Devotion to the Virgin is ardent. Various miracles are attributed to him, including that of having prevented the explosion of two bombs that fell on the basilica during the civil war. A pillar still bears traces of it…

The Tapestry Museum, adjacent to the Seo Cathedral: a must-see which houses one of the finest collections of its kind


The Tapestry Museum, adjacent to the Seo Cathedral: a must-see which houses one of the finest collections of its kind

Julie Daurel

The dome-lantern of the Seo cathedral: twenty years of renovation work have given it back its superb


The dome-lantern of the Seo cathedral: twenty years of renovation work have given it back its superb

Julie Daurel

Look up to see the large Gothic altarpiece, in polychrome alabaster, and the delicate lantern tower

At the eastern end of the square, the Seo Cathedral looks less impressive. Make no mistake about it: it is older than its neighbour, because it is the old mosque, which the Christians consecrated in 1118, when they entered the city. In the 17th century, a bull from Pope Clement X decided that Zaragoza would have another cathedral, a few meters from the first, and the Seo fell into oblivion, almost into abandonment. Twenty years of renovation work restored it to its former glory and, in 1999, the glorious building was rediscovered where half of the kings of Aragon were crowned, at a time when their kingdom included almost all of the Iberian Peninsula, Sicily, the Balearic Islands , Corsica and even Perpignan! Look up to see the large Gothic altarpiece, in polychrome alabaster, and the delicate lantern tower. Beyond the Plateresque ambulatory, here are the chapels that the noble families offered to the Church. Those dedicated to Saint Augustine and Santo Dominguito del Val are crumbling under Chantilly gold and stucco! Finally, don’t miss the discreet adjacent Tapestry Museum, which houses one of the finest collections of its kind in the world: incredible woolen comic strips, with speech bubbles in Latin, where the workshops of Arras, Beauvais, Brussels or Tournai tell in detail – crockery, jewellery, clothes, buildings – life in the 15th century!

The plateresque ambulatory of the Seo


The plateresque ambulatory of the Seo

Julie Daurel

At the end of the day, the Stone Bridge and (at the end, on the right) the balcony of Saint-Lazare offer incredible views of the Ebro, mirror of cathedrals. The opportunity to discover that there are many things happening on these shores and that the Pilar festivals, beyond the religious, are a great popular, cultural and gastronomic moment. Throughout the city, theatre, circus, mime, dance performances, concerts and, in restaurants, special menus where the “ternasco de Aragón”, the traditional milk-fed lamb, takes center stage with baker’s apples. Finally, the Feria del Pilar will offer the Misericordia arena the last meeting of the temporada, before the departure of the bullfighters across the Atlantic. Another conquest of America…and so it comes full circle.

Musicians in front of the Pablo-Gargallo museum


Musicians in front of the Pablo-Gargallo museum

Julie Daurel

ADDRESS BOOK

To do

Complete program on fiestasdelpilar.com. You can book there the visits below online. Or at the tourist office, Calle Don Jaime I (near Plaza del Pilar). The visit “The Route of the Cathedrals” brings together the two buildings and the Pont de Pierre. At 4:30 p.m., every day except Wednesday. Duration: 3 hours, price: €25. Same days, same time to discover the Seo and the Tapestry Museum: 1h30, €12.

Where to eat ?

On the banks of the Ebro Food Truck Festival from Paseo Echegaray y Caballero, between October 6th and 16th.

Restaurant Flor de Lis

This restaurant with its beautiful decor of azulejos multicolored serves delicious croquettes, rice with borage and fried artichokes with Teruel ham. Calle Don Jaime I, 34: +34 876 00 72 16,

Parrilla Albarracin

Ham from Teruel DO, sweet onion from Fuentes, ternasco (suckling lamb) DO: the best of Aragonese cuisine. Classic of the Pilar fiestas: the rustic “migas”, with egg, belly and grapes. Prefer the new room, cozy and contemporary. Plaza del Carmen, 1-3. Such. +34 976 23 24 73.

chocolate pass

the chocolate is a tradition in Zaragoza. For €9, the tourist office offers a Chocopass to taste five specialties from various chocolatiers. To be enjoyed hot, with churros, at Churrería La Fama (Calle Prudencio, 25: +34 976 39 37 54). Or the candied fruit from the inescapable Fantoba pastry shop (calle Don Jaime I, 21).

Or sleep ?

Alfonso Hotel

Tourism in Spain: the Virgin of Pilar brings the Hispanic world to Zaragoza