OLIVENZA Paso de la Avenida Ramón y Cajal: Alfonso XII de España

About the stop

In 1579, the Confraria das Chagas de Nosso Senhor Jesuscristo was founded in Olivenza. It later was renamed as Cofradía del Señor de los Pasos in 1811. The Saint Patron of Olivenza, his image is venerated in  Santa María Magdalena and is taken in procession on Passion Sunday, the week immediately preceeding Palm Sunday. In this celebration of Portuguese origin, the procession stops five times, because of the five holy wounds of Jesus Christ, in each of the five altars or stations that are spread all over the town centre.

Originally, these altars were closed with wooden doors all year long. Said doors were later replaced with wrought-iron glass doors that allow us to look on the inside, which was panelled with painted tiles depicting scenes of the Via Crucis. The stop located on Avenida Ramón y Cajal depicts the fifth stop of the Via Crucis—The Cyrenean helping Jesus.

Relationship with the royal character

In 1868, Queen Elizabeth II gifted a tunic to Saint Patron of Olivenza, the Señor de los Pasos. Her son, Alfonso XII, later gifted the brotherhood a signing book in which he declared himself as its Honorary President and Perpetual Protector. Since then, they became known as Royal Archiconfraternity. In 1979, the Count of Barcelona D. Juan de Borbón signed the book during his visit to Olivenza.