Los Dolores: special buses to Mancha Blanca, more than twenty vehicles every half hour

The Cabildo de Lanzarote has laid on a special bus service for the Mancha Blanca festivities: more than twenty vehicles, running every thirty minutes, to take residents and visitors to Los Dolores without a car.

The bulk of the operation is concentrated on the Romería of Saturday 12 September, the day Mancha Blanca draws more people than at any other time of year. The service also covers the other main events, through to the 15th, the patron saint's day and a public holiday across the island.

This is not merely a convenience. On those days the village fills until the access roads and the gravel verges normally used for parking are saturated: drive and you may end up leaving the car kilometres away and walking the rest anyway. Transport councillor Miguel Ángel Jiménez also presents the service as a safety measure.

How to plan

Check stops and times for your area before setting out: services are reinforced but concentrated around the peak hours of the pilgrimage. If you drive anyway, leave very early and expect to walk.