January 11 and 12 Closing events of the 2024 Holy Jubilee Year in Caravaca

Holy Mass is preceded by a Saturday evening light and music spectacular in the centre of Caravaca

The Holy Mass to close the Holy Jubilee Year of 2024 in Caravaca de la Cruz takes place at 12.00 on Sunday January 12 in the Real Basílica de la Vera Cruz, presided over by the Bishop of Cartagena (within whose Diocese the whole of the Region of Murcia lies) and attended by numerous other dignitaries. Choral music will be provided by the choir of the parish church of El Salvador in Caravaca and Murcia Cathedral.

The Mass is preceded the day before by a light, music and dance show entitled “Paso a paso, verso a verso” in the Plaza del Arco, beginning at 20.15, with no admission fee payable to attend. A video mapping event on the façade of the Town Hall is also included, paying tribute to the thousands of pilgrims who have visited Caravaca since the Jubilee began.

The evening ends with a grand firework display over the Holy City while the bells of Caravaca’s churches peal.

As Mayor José Francisco García remarked while presenting these events, the important thing now for Caravaca is to build on the success of Jubilee Year and to consolidate the city as a popular tourism destination on a permanent basis, rather than just once every 7 years. Meanwhile, Carmen María Conesa, minister for Tourism in the regional government of Murcia, confirmed that a new image and promotional campaign are being designed with the intention of presenting them at the annual late-January FITUR tourism fair in Madrid, one of the largest events of its kind in the world.

Sra Conesa also reported that over 800,000 visits were recorded during the year (including both locals and visitors), representing an increase of around 60 per cent in comparison with the previous Jubilee in 2017, with a notable increase in non-Spanish visitors and in the number of people hiking to Caravaca to earn their Jubilee “Credential”. The overall economic impact of these visitors is estimated at around million euros.

Breaking down the numbers further, as many as 350,000 people flocked to the Basílica during 2024, while the 950 religious ceremonies were attended by 4,500 Spanish groups of pilgrims and almost 200 from abroad. 11,000 people obtained the complete “Credential” by completing at least 50 km on foot or 100 km by bicycle.

One of the last events of the year is the art exhibition featuring works by Rafael Tegeo, which continues at the former church of the Compañía de Jesús until February 4 and which welcomed over 6,000 visitors in the first month of its run. A total of 73 paintings are on display, many of them on loan from the Prado in Madrid, the Galería de Colecciones Reales de Patrimonio Nacional, the Museo del Romanticismo and the Museo de Bellas Artes in Murcia (MuBAM).

Another highlight was the “Mystery Man” exhibition, which attracted 30,000 visitors, while the “Las Noches del Camino” concerts in the summer were attended by over 10,000 people.

For more local information, including the Holy Jubilee Year which is now coming to an end, as well as local news and what’s on, go to the home page of Caravaca Today.