On a hilltop in the heart of the Parque Natural Sierra de Andújar, 31km up the A6177 from Andújar, stands the Santuario de la Virgen de la Cabeza. The original 13th-century shrine here was destroyed during the civil war, when it was seized by pro-Franco troops and then ‘liberated’ after eight months of determined Republican bombardment.
It's the site of one of Spain’s biggest and most emotive religious events, the Romería de la Virgen de la Cabeza, on the last weekend in April, when hundreds of thousands of people converge to form a huge, festive tent city around the church and witness a small statue of the Virgin Mary – known as La Morenita (The Little Brown One) – being carried around the Cerro del Cabezo for several hours from 11am on the Sunday.
