This Sunday at 5:30 p.m. the ringing of the bells announced the beginning of the procession with the image of Our Lady of Carmen to the Insular Hospital where she was received with applause and cheers by the numerous public that had gathered. At 6:00 p.m. the Eucharist began in honor of the elderly, sick and health personnel residing in the hospital center.
The Eucharist was presided over by Alejandro Carmona, parish priest of Casillas del Ángel in Fuerteventura. In addition, he was assisted by other fellow priests, Rafael Tejera, parish priest of Tiagua, Adrián Sosa, from Tías and Nicanor Bermúdez, priest of Valterra. This year for the first time the Arrecife Choir, directed by Professor Hernán Lorenzo, sang the Canarian Mass by the Canarian composer D. Luis Prieto, giving a very special touch to the celebration.
After the mass, the procession began, headed by the musical band La Unión de Lanzarote, directed by Professor Pepe Artiles, when the image of Our Lady of Carmen arrived next to the monument "The light that guides us", the meeting took place with the small image that remains inside the monument and where the members of the Coral Iris del Mar of Valterra sang the Salve Marinera to her.
This year the two virgins continued in procession to the Puerto de Naos dock where the image of the monument "The Light that Guides Us" was uploaded for the first time aboard the boat "El Picao", while the image that presides over the Church of Valterra since the constitution of the parish remained on the dock without going out to sail through the bay of Arrecife. According to the parish priest Nicanor Bermúdez, this change was motivated by "the safety of the image".
The maritime procession was carried out with total normality along the Arrecife coastline where small boats and jet skis approached the boat carrying the Virgin. One more year, Líneas Marítimas Romero put one of its boats, the "Princesa Yaiza", at the service of the parish, led by Captain Sixto Guadalupe, carrying a total of 150 people on board. When the entourage approached the old commercial dock, the floral offering was carried out for all the deceased sailors.
Back in port, the procession headed to the Church in Valterra where the public could enjoy the fireworks with the Salve Marinera that said goodbye to Our Lady of Carmen, thus putting the finishing touch to the festivities in her honor.
