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All Feet Lead To
Cartago!
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All Feet Lead To
Cartago!
Due to the long weekend
the "romeria" - annual
walk - to Cartago came
early this year, as tens
of thousands made the
annual pilgrimage ahead
of the traditional
August 2.
Tall, short, fat,
skinny, old, young,
beautiful and ugly all
joined on foot to walk
to Cartago to visit "La
Negrita", the Virgen de
Los Angeles, as she is
known to one and all.
Many made the walk for
the first time, while
others it has become a
tradition to walk to the
Basilica de Los Angeles
in Cartago to ask La
Negrita for a favour or
to give thanks for
favours bestowed.
No matter what the
reason, the carretera
vieja that goes from
Tres Rios on the east
side of San José to
Cartago was full of
walkers as the Policía
de Tránsito (traffic
police) maintained
control of vehicular
traffic, the Fuerza
Pública (police)
maintained order and the
Cruz Roja (Red Cross)
offer medical
assistance.
The huge numbers of "romeros"
surprised the more than
1.000 police and
emergency personnel
attached to the annual
walk, not expecting so
many romeros so early.
The Policía de Tránsito
have been closing and
opening the roads
depending on the number
of walkers at any given
time, but announced that
it will close off the
carretera vieja
completely tomorrow,
August 1, when the
largest number of
walkers are expected to
pass through.
For those romeros who
made it to Cartago
yesterday, vehicular
chaos greeted them as
the traffic lights in
the "old metropolis" as
Cartago is also known,
were down.
Some 20 traffic lights
in the city stopped
functioning at 6:00am
and remained that way
all day, causing all
sorts of traffic
congestion, a
pedestrians and drivers
clogged the
intersections.
To avoid any major
consequences, city
officials covered the
traffic lights with dark
plastic bags.
"We would like to report
that the problem is
solved, but sincerely we
have not been able to
locate anyone at the
departamento de
semáforos del Ministerio
del Transportes (MOPT)",
said Luis Ureña the
Cartago traffic
director.
Ureña added that he
tried to contact the
MOPT all day and to no
avail since yesterday
was a legal holiday and
all government offices
were closed.
As of last night, 345
people were attended to
by the Cruz Roja for all
types of aches and pains
at the Ochomogo post
near the Basilica.
The majority of
complaints were for
aching feet, sore
muscles and respiratory
problems. Thirteen were
transferred to the Max
Peralta hospital for
further attention,
according to Carlos
Gutiérrez, a Cruz Roja
official. |
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The inside
of the Basilica de Los Angeles, as
romeros make the last several metres of
the romeria on their knees. |
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