Thousands of religious devotees descended on the Sevilla neighbourhood of Macarena on Monday to witness the return of the city’s most iconic religious statue.
Locals boasted of waiting more than six hours to see La Esperanza Macarena, after an ‘unbearable’ absence of 118 days.
Footage shared online shows church goers breaking down into tears upon seeing the revered Virgin in all her glory inside the Basilica de Macarena.
By 5.30am on Monday, half an hour before the church opened its doors, the queue already stretched beyond the Hotel Macarena. Two hours later, it had reached as far as the Puerta de Cordoba.
‘Those who have dared to ridicule all the people who have made long queues to see the Virgin, evidently do not know how important La Macarena is for Sevilla,’ one resident insisted on X.
Worshippers lingered in front of the figure, many praying quietly after months without seeing her publicly displayed.
Outside, queues even formed at the local churro stand, as early-risers stopped for hot drinks after their visit.
The mood was overwhelmingly emotional, with many describing the moment as the ‘real return’ of the Macarena.
The Macarena’s reappearance comes after a restoration earlier this year became a major international story.
The results were widely criticised by heritage specialists and the public, prompting headlines in The New York Times, The Guardian, BBC, Le Monde, and other outlets around the world.
The initial intervention altered key facial features and colouring, leading to global comparisons with other infamous restoration failures.
Amid public pressure, the brotherhood halted the process and commissioned a new intervention led by conservator Pedro Manzano, under the supervision of the Andalusian Institute of Historical Heritage (IAPH) and a panel of experts.
The response by the public on Monday has been overwhelmingly positive, with Manzano being widely praised.
Members of the Hermandad de la Macarena spent the morning overseeing the steady flow of visitors. The brotherhood has described the latest intervention as a ‘return to historical fidelity’ after a controversy that placed one of Sevilla’s most iconic religious images in an unwanted global spotlight.
Read more Andalucia news at the Spanish Eye.
