Every 16 July, Chiclana's fishing community sends the Virgen del Carmen out onto the water, and you don't need a ticket or a plan to be part of it. Around five in the afternoon her image is carried down to the channel at Sancti Petri and lifted aboard a decorated boat, then led out past La Barrosa by a straggling flotilla of fishing vessels and pleasure craft, horns sounding, families packed onto the decks. They call her "la Atunera" after the old tuna village she sails through.
The easiest way to watch is simply to find a spot on the sand and wait for the boats to come into view. It's a religious occasion at heart, more heartfelt than rowdy, and the light by that hour does a lot of the work. If you're around the evening before, the Virgin is walked from the Capilla del Pino along the seafront to Sancti Petri, which is worth catching too.
