After a fourteen-year hiatus, the Commission for the Carmen Festivities is once again organizing the celebrations in San Lorenzo de El Escorial. The primary goal of this new committee, largely composed of young individuals, is to revitalize festivities that have been a local benchmark for 74 years.
The Brotherhood of Our Lady of Mount Carmel and the City Council have continued to hold the events and, crucially, the honors for the neighborhood's patron saint. "We are grateful that it has not been lost and that this tradition has always been taken into account," stated Yaiza Martín, president of the Commission.
“"We are grateful that it has not been lost and that this tradition has always been taken into account."
The main days of the celebration, known as the "strong days," will take place from Thursday, July 16th, to Sunday, July 19th. However, the official kickoff will be on Tuesday, July 7th, with a torchlight rosary organized by the Brotherhood.
A group of approximately twenty people, led by a core of young members, has driven the revival of the traditional organization of these festivities. Volunteers working without remuneration have joined individuals with prior experience on the committee.
“"It's not that there is a future, it's that there is a present, and the present is represented by the majority of a Commission whose average age is 25."
The festival program, to be unveiled next week, aims to maintain the historical line of these celebrations, with residents as the protagonists. According to Novo, ideas have been contributed intergenerationally and consensually with the Brotherhood, the City Council, and the commission's three presidents.
