Saturday 12: the Romería Popular to Mancha Blanca, with carts, parrandas and a full day

On Saturday 12 September Mancha Blanca lives one of the busiest days of the Fiestas de Los Dolores. The Romería Popular leaves at 4.30pm from the Tinajo football pitch and reaches the village with carts, parrandas and folk groups from all over Lanzarote and the rest of the archipelago.

The procession is the visible part, but the day starts long before: from early morning people head towards Mancha Blanca, and the village fills up hours before the carts move off. Several of the groups taking part are the same ones playing the night before at the Nanino Díaz Cutillas Festival.

The party does not end on arrival: the evening goes on with the Baile del Romero, the dance that closes the day and, for many, the reason to stay.

How to plan it

The start is the Tinajo football pitch, at 4.30pm. It is one of the busiest days of the island's year: come early, leave the car well away from the centre of Mancha Blanca and expect to walk. 15 September, a public holiday across the island, is instead the day of the walking pilgrimage to the Ermita.