The Virgen del Carmen puts to sea at La Bombillaverified
The Virgen del Carmen goes out to sea from the La Bombilla slipway and sails past the districts of El Remo, Charco Verde and Puerto Naos before returning to the village.
The Virgen del Carmen is the patron of seafarers, and in Canarian fishing villages her procession takes place at sea. In La Bombilla it happens on Sunday 30 August, and it is the act that closes the neighbourhood's fiestas.
At 17:30 the image is carried in procession from its residence to the slipway. There it boards a boat and travels by sea past the districts of El Remo, Charco Verde and Puerto Naos. On its return to La Bombilla the procession continues through the streets of the neighbourhood, and mass follows. At 22:00 there is a tableau vivant and fireworks.
What makes this particular route special is the coast it passes: the 2021 eruption reshaped this stretch of the La Palma shoreline, and these same districts lived under its mark for years. Watching the sea procession move along them carries an added weight here.
It is best seen from the La Bombilla slipway itself and from the seafront promenades of the districts it passes.