The president of Viana do Alentejo City Council, Luís Miguel Duarte, says that Pilgrimage on Horseback of N.ª Sr.ª D’Aires received “more or less 500 registrations and this means that, when they enter Viana, there is twice as many horses. They certainly entered Viana with close to 1,000 horses.” And the mayor guarantees that he is already “working for next year”.
Luís Miguel Duarte even ventures to say that this “was the biggest pilgrimage ever. Everything helped, the weather helped, the pilgrims helped, the changes to the routes helped and Nossa Senhora da Boa Viagem [a santa padroeira da vila portuguesa da Moita] also”.
However, the mayor, speaking to Rádio Campanário, recalled the tragic accident that marked the event. A 56-year-old man lost his life and his 28-year-old son was injured after they were run over by a cart participating in the Horse Pilgrimage that connects Moita to Viana do Alentejo.
“It’s true, it was marked by this tragedy. We have already sent our condolences to the family” but “there are things that cannot stop and the pilgrimage, having reached the size it has reached over these years, must continue.
Interview by Augusta Serrano; Text by Carlos Caldeira
Tags: Pilgrimage brings horses Viana Alentejo
