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January 11 and 12 Closing events of the 2024 Holy Jubilee Year in Caravaca
Holy Mass is preceded by a Saturday evening light and music spectacular in the centre of Caravaca
The Holy Mass to close the Holy Jubilee Year of 2024 in Caravaca de la Cruz takes place at 12.00 on Sunday January 12 in the Real Basílica de la Vera Cruz, presided over by the Bishop of Cartagena (within whose Diocese the whole of the Region of Murcia lies) and attended by numerous other dignitaries. Choral music will be provided by the choir of the parish church of El Salvador in Caravaca and Murcia Cathedral.
The Mass is preceded the day before by a light, music and dance show entitled “Paso a paso, verso a verso” in the Plaza del Arco, beginning at 20.15, with no admission fee payable to attend. A video mapping event on the façade of the Town Hall is also included, paying tribute to the thousands of pilgrims who have visited Caravaca since the Jubilee began.
The evening ends with a grand firework display over the Holy City while the bells of Caravaca’s churches peal.
As Mayor José Francisco García remarked while presenting these events, the important thing now for Caravaca is to build on the success of Jubilee Year and to consolidate the city as a popular tourism destination on a permanent basis, rather than just once every 7 years. Meanwhile, Carmen María Conesa, minister for Tourism in the regional government of Murcia, confirmed that a new image and promotional campaign are being designed with the intention of presenting them at the annual late-January FITUR tourism fair in Madrid, one of the largest events of its kind in the world.
Sra Conesa also reported that over 800,000 visits were recorded during the year (including both locals and visitors), representing an increase of around 60 per cent in comparison with the previous Jubilee in 2017, with a notable increase in non-Spanish visitors and in the number of people hiking to Caravaca to earn their Jubilee “Credential”. The overall economic impact of these visitors is estimated at around million euros.
Breaking down the numbers further, as many as 350,000 people flocked to the Basílica during 2024, while the 950 religious ceremonies were attended by 4,500 Spanish groups of pilgrims and almost 200 from abroad. 11,000 people obtained the complete “Credential” by completing at least 50 km on foot or 100 km by bicycle.
One of the last events of the year is the art exhibition featuring works by Rafael Tegeo, which continues at the former church of the Compañía de Jesús until February 4 and which welcomed over 6,000 visitors in the first month of its run. A total of 73 paintings are on display, many of them on loan from the Prado in Madrid, the Galería de Colecciones Reales de Patrimonio Nacional, the Museo del Romanticismo and the Museo de Bellas Artes in Murcia (MuBAM).
Another highlight was the “Mystery Man” exhibition, which attracted 30,000 visitors, while the “Las Noches del Camino” concerts in the summer were attended by over 10,000 people.
For more local information, including the Holy Jubilee Year which is now coming to an end, as well as local news and what’s on, go to the home page of Caravaca Today.
Address
Calle De Las Monjas, 19, 30400 CARAVACA DE LA CRUZTel: 968 702424 / 968 701003
Oficina de Turismo de Caravaca de la Cruz
More information about the places of interest which can be visited in the municipality of Caravaca de la Cruz, along with what's on and local news can be found in the Caravaca Today.
Caravaca de la Cruz, in the north-west of the Region of Murcia, is one of only 5 Holy Cities in the Roman Catholic world, a centre of pilgrimage, along with Rome, Jerusalem, Santiago de Compostela and Santo Toribio de Liebana, and is home to the Cross of Caravaca, the Vera Cruz.
The status of Holy City was bestowed by Pope John Paul II in 1998, granting the City a Permanent Jubilee year every 7 years for perpetuity, the first one held in 2003 and the next in 2024.
The strategic and natural advantages of Caravaca de la Cruz have attracted the attention of settlers for more than 800,000 years, the Cueva Negra yielding remains of Homo Heidelbergensis, forbears of the Neanderthals and the municipality also houses important archaeological remains from the Argaric, Iberian and Roman cultures. many of these can be seen in the Municipal Archaeological Museum.
As a border town caught between the Catholic forces of Castille and the last remaining Moorish stronghold in Spain, Granada, Caravaca had a turbulent medieval history, but it was during this period that the legend of the Cross of Caravaca was born, bringing the religious orders which shaped the structure of Caravaca today, with its impressive hilltop castle and eclectic collection of churches and monasteries, religious tourism today being a backbone of the town´s economy.
Caravaca de la Cruz is a municipality with important natural resources, including extensive forests, part of which have protected status due to their wealth of flora and fauna, and due to the abundant water supplies is also a major area for canned fruit production, apricots in particular being an important crop.
Caravaca is renown for its important May Fiestas, held in honour of the Vera Cruz, which also incorporate the Moors and Christians celebrations and the Running of the Wine Horses.
Caravaca de la Cruz is also the home of Europe´s largest collection of ethnic instruments at Barranda, the Museo de Música Étnica Barranda and is the location of the Barranda festival de Cuadrillas, which celebrates the Region's ethnic music traditions.
The municipality is home to around 26,000 inhabitants and sahres boundaries with Moratalla, Cehegín, Lorca, Puebla de Don Fadrique in the province of Granada and Vélez-Blanco in the province of Almería.
Opening times:
Weekdays: 10.00 to 14.00 and 16.30 to 19.30
Saturdays: 10.30 to 14.00 and 16.30 to 19.30
Sundays and public holidays: 10.30 to 14.00
Click for map, Caravaca de la Cruz Tourist Office
