Bajada de la Virgen de las Nieves

The Bajada de la Virgen de las Nieves is La Palma's great festival, held once every five years: the image of the island's patron saint is brought down from the Real Santuario Insular de Las Nieves to Santa Cruz de La Palma, where she stays for several weeks surrounded by dances, plays and processions. It began in 1680 and was declared a Fiesta of National Tourist Interest in 1980. The 2025 edition was the 70th; the next is in 2030.

Why does it happen every five years?

In 1676, during a drought, Bishop Bartolomé García Ximénez authorised taking the image down to the city and ordered the descent to be repeated every five years from 1680. Since then it has been held in years ending in 0 or 5. Since 1975 the central acts have been concentrated in the first two weeks of July, and the image returns to her sanctuary on 5 August.

What happens during the Bajada?

The 2025 programme gives a good idea of the structure:

• Bajada del Trono (29 June 2025). The festival opens with the flag raised at the Castillo de la Virgen and a pilgrimage carrying the silver throne pieces — 42 of them — from the sanctuary down to the Iglesia de El Salvador.
• Semana Grande (from 6 July 2025). The busiest week. It includes the Minué (an 18th-century style dance festival created in 1945, held on 8 July 2025), the Carro Alegórico y Triunfal (an allegorical Marian play on a float, 11 July 2025, the first new carro in about 30 years) and, above all, the Danza de los Enanos.
• Danza de los Enanos (10 July 2025). The best-known act: dancers first appear as costumed characters that change each edition, then pass through a booth and re-emerge as leaping "dwarfs" in Napoleonic bicorn hats, dancing to a polka premiered in 1925; the dance is repeated in the streets until dawn. A second performance was held on 19 July in 2025.
• The descent itself (12–13 July 2025). The image leaves the sanctuary in procession on the Saturday afternoon and is received in the city the next morning, when the Diálogo entre el Castillo y la Nave is performed — a verse dialogue between a mock castle and ship, performed without interruption since 1885.
• Return (5 August). A farewell mass and procession take the image back to her sanctuary.

Is it worth planning a trip for 2030?

If you can travel in July 2030, yes: it is the island's largest event and many acts are free in the street. Expect high demand for flights, ferries and rooms in Santa Cruz de La Palma; the city council publishes the programme on its Bajada website in the months before. Tickets may be needed for some staged acts.

Outside festival years

The Real Santuario Insular de Las Nieves on the outskirts of the city, can be visited any year, and the image is there except during the Bajada. Santa Cruz de La Palma also hosts Los Indianos every Carnival Monday. For the island's nature, see the Caldera de Taburiente and Roque de los Muchachos, or the La Palma island guide.