The traditional pilgrimage from Sant Andreu de la Barca to the Abadia de Montserrat celebrates one hundred years of history

Sunday, September 20, 2026.- The municipality of Sant Andreu de la Barca marks one hundred years of pilgrimage to the Abadia de Montserrat. The centenary of this traditional pilgrimage was celebrated this weekend, as every year, with a three-day stay at Montserrat.



Around seventy people arrived on Friday evening and took part in a vigil in the cambril (shrine). The following day, Saturday, the pilgrims held a prayer service there, and on Sunday, the group participated in the Conventual Mass with the reading of an introductory text and an offering. Afterwards, the colla Diables de Sant Andreu de la Barca and their dragon performed in the squares in front of the monastery. The municipality's colla gegantera (giant-bearer group) also took part.

     

Sunday morning, the last pilgrims arrived at the abbey following a night hike covering a 31-kilometer route with 1,200 meters of positive elevation gain. The hike was created in the 1990s after an accident involving a young man from Sant Andreu in Montserrat, a story that over the years has forged a special bond between the municipality, the mountain, and the Centre Excursionista Pi Tallat of Sant Andreu.

Every September—and further back in time, in October—the residents of Sant Andreu carry out the deeply rooted tradition of ascending to the Abadia de Montserrat to take part in the liturgical acts at the Basilica of Santa Maria and venerate the Mare de Déu, as well as to foster an intergenerational gathering space for locals united by their faith with Montserrat. Representatives from the parish of Sant Andreu de la Barca state that “the pilgrimage is not a few days of collective vacation, but rather a few days in Montserrat to listen to what the Lord's will is for the new course beginning and to place ourselves at His disposal, counting on the intercession of the Mare de Déu.”