“Lord save us from this drought”: Devotees take statue of Jesus Nazareno in procession to ask for rain in Spain

Faith moves mountains… and why not? rains too. Concerned about the drought facing much of Spain, parishioners from Jaén took out the statue of Nuestro Padre Jesús Nazareno in procession to ask him for a favor: that it rain.

Since March 1949, the revered image had not set out in procession to beg for rain.

Inhabitants of this arid part of the country, famous for its olive groves, ask – and hope – from the heart, as they did 75 years ago, to be rewarded with the miracle of rainfall.

Under the midday sun, the AFP agency described, on Tuesday, May 2, 2023, thousands of people from Jaén walked through the streets of that city, located in the interior of Andalusia, on Monday afternoon to see “El Abuelo” pass by. , as this image of a cross-bearing Christ is known there.

“We are facing a persistent drought and the purpose of this prayer procession is precisely to invoke the Lord to help and save us from this drought,” explains Ricardo Cobos, elder brother of the Brotherhood of “El Abuelo”, off to AFP.

“Catastrophic” drought in Spain

Due to the lack of rainfall, “the country’s reservoirs are at 50.1% of their capacity, with particularly low levels in the Guadalquivir basin (24.8%), in Andalusia and in the inner basins of Catalonia (25.7%) “.

The agency continues, explaining that “Spain, which exports much of its agricultural production to the rest of Europe, is facing a catastrophic drought that worries farmers and authorities.

According to Coag, the main farmers’ union, 60% of Spain’s farmland is currently “suffocated” by lack of rainfall, AFP reports.

All this increases public concern. For this reason, the parishioners in Jaén keep looking to the sky.

Antonia Contreras, a housewife who joined the procession of “El Abuelo”, is hopeful: “I have come to see the Lord and I am confident that He will give us water.”