The Virgin of La Paloma

On the run up to August 15, the La Latina neighborhood comes alive (more than usual, I mean) to pay homage to the Virgin of La Paloma with music, dance, food, and drinking in the streets until the wee hours of the morning. It is also not uncommon to see people wearing Madrid’s traditional castizo dress, as the celebration of the Virgin of La Paloma is one of Madrid’s most popular local neighborhood traditions.

The original religious meaning of the celebration dates back to the 18th century–the devotion that began with a pious woman’s exhibition of a painting of the Virgin of La Paloma and extended with news of the Virgin’s miraculous works and the construction of a chapel and church devoted to her. Today the painting of the Virgin of La Paloma is exhibited at the Parroquia de la Virgen de la Paloma where the faithful come to ask her to bestow blessings and favors upon them.

[Photo: J.L. De Diego]