MAY

May is the month of the pilgrimages in Aragón. During the first weekend they celebrate pilgrimages in Binéfar to the Virgen del Romeral, with a distribution of wine and sweets, in Broto, Villanova and Tierrantona. In Langa del Castillo, the neighbors usually eat traditional pastas and muscatel together, and in Castellote the pilgrimage of the Llovedor de los Hombres takes place, which consists of celebrating meals by groups in the surroundings of the hermitage. Formerly the menu consisted of fasting beans with garlic, snails and wine, a recipe for which many continue to decant.

Calatayud goes on a pilgrimage to the Cristo de Ribota, where a gastronomic contest based on stews from the area -ranchos, calderetas, paellas, etc.- is held.

Alcorisa enjoys the party of spring with a popular meal with a menu composed of beans with ear and sausage, and cow stew. The Monastery of Monlora, in the Five Towns, is another reference in terms of pilgrimages. Until this enclave located in the town of Luna, thousands of people from the zones of the area come close to it-Eje de los Caballeros, Erla, Luna, Sierra de Luna, etc.-.

Within the month of May, the first Sunday is the day with the highest concentration of pilgrimages. One of its greatest exponents is the pilgrimage to the Virgin of the Crown in which neighbors of Alcalá del Obispo, Piracés, Albero Bajo, Albero Alto, Callén and Novales participate. Munébrega celebrates a popular meal of roast chicken and custard with sponge cake, and cinnamon for dessert. Alhama de Aragón visits San Gregorio, Almonacid de la Sierra, the Sanctuary of the Virgin of Lagunas, and La Muela to the Virgen de la Sagrada. There is also pilgrimage in Malón.

In Huesca, the hermitages of Salas and Loreto are filled with pilgrims who distribute cakes and hard boiled eggs. Other pilgrimages on this first Sunday of May are those of the Vineyard Virgin in which the twelve towns of the Abadian of Montearagón and the one of the Virgin of Semón de Olvés participate. In Paracuellos de la Ribera there is popular jewish and in La Puebla de Valverde the pilgrimage to Santa Bárbara where they take the scrolls of the saint with wine.

The first Sunday after Holy Week is celebrated in Ariño the pilgrimage to the Shrine of the Virgen de los Arcos. In addition to the religious traditions that mark the day, neighbors and visitors who come together in the sanctuary taste a typical menu consisting of beans and sausage.

From the end of April and during the month of May, pilgrimages to the Shrine of Our Lady of Jaraba are carried out from different towns in the region of Calatayud. The pilgrimages to this Sanctuary, located in a landscape of great natural beauty, on a ledge at the entrance to the Barranco de la Hoz Seca in Jaraba, are a tradition that dates back to previous centuries, when there were still many more people who came to him to pray before the Virgin of Jaraba, ask for some help and thank for the help given. Campillo de Aragón, Calmarza, Cubil, Milmarcos, Jaraba and Cimballa are the main towns.

Biel celebrates the pilgrimage to the hermitage of the Virgen de Sierra. After the religious acts, which given the massive influx of people take place outside the building on a stone altar, formerly shared among the attendees previously blessed bread slices that were popularly known as “the bread of the Virgin.” For a few years the bread was replaced by the “cakes of May” that are tasted accompanied by sweet wine in porrón. The pilgrims also organize their own picnics in groups of friends and family, and usually opt for their menus by crumbs, salads and ribs grilled on the grill.

The residents of Olvena celebrate a pilgrimage with a distribution of bread and wine. In Blecua there is mass in the hermitage and all attendees are invited to muffins and wine. Aniés and Ibdes also celebrate pilgrimage in honor of San Gregorio.

Aniñón celebrates today the pilgrimage to the hermitage of Niño Jesús where large ranches and crumbs are prepared. Paracuellos de Jiloca celebrates its festivities in honor of San Antonio.

In Casbas de Huesca, the residents and visitors of Casbas de Huesca go to the hermitage of Nuestra Señora de Bascués. On the way back, they celebrate a meal in which they taste snails with garlic, horseman and rabbit.

The festivity of the landlord of the farmers has great repercussion in the gastronomy and the calendar of the Aragonese rural environment. Among the enclaves where this date is celebrated with special emphasis are Almudévar who celebrates his second parties with very popular acts and Sariñena that carries out a pilgrimage to the hermitage of Santiago with a picnic in the surroundings.

In Candasnos there is a pilgrimage to the hermitage of San Bartolomé where they eat meat and roasted longaniza. There is also popular food in Albalate de Cinca, snack in the Plaza Mayor de Alfántega, popular dinner in El Pueyo de Santa Cruz and sartenada in Laluenga.

In Huerta a judiada is organized, a popular agape composed of green beans as main course, fry and lamb as second course. For dessert they take peach with wine.

It is also tradition to celebrate a great meal in the five places that make up the town of ILCE -Morilla, Fornillos, Permisán, Monesma and Ilche-. In El Tormillo there are sardines, and in Valfarta a popular agape. The residents of Castigaleu share cake and wine, in Berdún there is popular food and in Aniñón lamb stew. Monreal de Ariza celebrates the pilgrimage of San Isidro with grilled ternasco chops, and Ainzón celebrates a ranch or crumb contest on the banks of the Huecha river. In Castiliscar there is never a pilgrimage for the hermitage of San Román. In the Monegrina locality of Poleñino there is popular food in the park with pork as the main food. The same day in Peñalba there is also popular food, in this case based on lamb stews.

In Maleján, they celebrate the festival of San Isidro with special interest. The acts, organized by the brotherhood of the saint, begin at seven in the morning with the song of the dawn and continue with chocolate and coffee with pastries for all present. While the majordomos finalize the details of the religious ceremony, the menjaneros begin to prepare the ranch peeling potatoes, peppers, garlic and other ingredients, a task in which the collaboration is usually very wide. The food takes place in the Plaza Baja in a very familiar atmosphere where jots and good humor are never lacking

The residents of the villages of Caldearenas go from pilgrimage to the hermitage of the Virgen de los Ríos, in the mountains of Aquilue. In the interior of the hermitage cakes and buns cooked in the morning are placed in a wood oven accompanied by stale wine from the earth.

Santa Quiteria is a date with many festive dates in the calendar. One of them takes place in Fuentes de Jiloca that celebrates a popular dinner based on beans with a mask and ear and stewed beef. For dessert take roscones and donuts of the saint. In Naval, the residents of Naval go to the pilgrimage with charity after the mass. In San Agustín, the pilgrimage to the Virgin of Pradas is famous for the popular scrolls. There is also pilgrimage in Alarba.

Cimballa se va de romería. En la explanada junto a la ermita, y tras la misa, se ofrece un aperitivo a los asistentes a base de vino, moscatel, chocolate, pastas y otros ágapes. Después, en grupos de amigos y familiares, se reúnen junto al río para comer y disfrutar de un día de campo.

Maleján, in the Campo de Borja region, dismisses its patron saint festivities in honor of the Holy Christ of the Chapel with the “christening”, a great shower of almonds, nuts and candies that the mayordomos throw from their balconies. Down below, people are waiting and willing to pick up such sweet rain. This is an ancestral tradition that has been passed on from parents to children without being able to accurately pinpoint its origin or meaning for that fact.

Asín celebrates the pilgrimage to the chapel of the Virgen del Campo. After the celebration of the Eucharist in the open air, back to the village, the blessing of the fields and terms is carried out and, once in the town, the town hall presents all the contestants with the traditional loaf of bread and a bottle of wine. It is a centuries-old tradition that the town celebrates on the Saturday before Pentecost Sunday to ask the Virgen del Campo for rain in the fields on these spring days.