Basílica de Nuestra Señora de Candelaria

Some Guanches shepherds (first inhabitants of the Canary Islands before the arrival of the Spanish) discovered on a beach of Candelaria a statue holding a candle. They attributed miraculous powers to the statue. It was very probably a figure in a ship which sank just before. They celebrated the cult of the statue in a cave near of the sea.

The Spanish recognized this statue in 1497 as a black Virgin and continued its cult.

This Virgin, locally known as "Morenita" quickly became the Saint patroness of the Canary Islands and by extension, of a large part of Latin America, particularly in Venezuela.

Placed too near to the sea, it was destroyed in 1826 by a tidal wave. It has been replaced by a copy which has kept its miraculous powers, but this time the Spanish were more careful and installed it in a huge Basilica guarded by a row of giant "Guanches" Kings.

A pilgrimage with a procession takes place on the 2nd February and 15th August and gathers crowds from all Canary.