Benidorm to kick off its Virgen del Carmen festivities on Thursday, with this year’s traditional maritime procession taking place earlier than usual

Benidorm celebrates its traditional festivities in honour of the Virgen del Carmen starting this Thursday, July 16th. This deeply rooted celebration, reflecting the strong connection between the city and the sea, features a program of events that this year includes a key change: the maritime procession will be moved from Sunday to Thursday to coincide with the feast day of the Star of the Sea. This was announced by the Councillor for Fiestas, Mariló Cebreros, who congratulated the Carmen Festival Committee and its president, María Pérez Llorca, for organising these celebrations once again, “filled with enthusiasm, affection, respect, and remembrance for the people of Benidorm who made the sea their livelihood.”

The festivities will begin this Thursday at 6:00 PM in the Church of Sant Jaume i Santa Anna with a Mass dedicated to Our Lady of Mount Carmel and the official opening address for the 2026 celebrations, delivered by priests Juan Antonio González and Jaume Benaloy. The blessing and exchange of scapulars between the 2025 Honorary Sailor, Ariadna Orgilés Escoda, and her successor for 2026, young Raquel Castro Llorca, will also take place.

Following the Mass, festival participants, authorities, and the public will accompany the image of the patron saint of seafarers in a procession to the Port. There, the maritime procession will begin, traversing the Bay of Benidorm, performing the traditional blessings and offering laurel wreaths in memory of those lost at sea. At the end of the procession, twenty-one salutes will be fired in honour of the Virgin of Carmen and on the balcony of the Fishermen's Guild, the honorary sailor will recite the verse dedicated to the patroness saint before returning to the church of Sant Jaume i Santa Ana to accompany the image.

Program of events

The celebrations will continue until next Sunday, with numerous events taking place throughout the weekend, such as open-air dances, competitions, and receptions for authorities and festival organisations.

As part of the official program, on Saturday, July 18, the Flower Offering will take place. The procession will depart at 7:00 p.m. from the Paseo de Colón and proceed to the Plaza de la Señoría. There, flowers will be offered to the Virgen del Carmen and to those lost at sea, and laurel wreaths will be laid in their honour.

In addition, on Sunday, July 19, at 2:00 p.m., an aerial and terrestrial mascletà (firecracker display) will be set off at Plaza de SS MM los Reyes de España by Turís pyrotechnics company.

The Councillor for Fiestas, Mariló Cebreros, has publicly invited citizens and visitors to “participate in these traditional festivities that have been celebrated with such affection by generations and generations of Benidorm residents,” while also expressing her confidence that the changes to the program “will serve to give greater prominence to the events, as we are sure will be the case.”