An 'angel' descends to mark Easter Sunday

Each year, a young child descends over a crowd of people to reach a Virgin Mary statue, which has a black veil covering its head, and removes the mourning veil as a symbol of Jesus Christ's resurrection in northern Spain.

This year, it was Ariadna Munilla's time to shine.

Yesterday, dressed as an angel, the eight-year-old unveiled the Virgin Mary statue in front of thousands of people in Tudela in Spain's Navarra region, after descending from the Clock House over the Plaza de los Fueros.

The region's traditional "Descent of Tudela's Angel" ceremony re-enacts the Bible passage in which an angel announces to Virgin Mary that her son has risen from the dead.

According to Spanish-language regional newspaper Diario de Navarra, the ceremony has been declared a Fiesta of National Tourist Interest, an honorary designation given to festivals or events held in Spain that promote tourism in the country.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on April 02, 2018, with the headline An 'angel' descends to mark Easter Sunday. Subscribe