Virgin of the Hugs

Marian devotion of Madrid (Community of Madrid)
Popular devotion (not officially recognized by the Church)

La Virgen del Abrazo is a recent local devotion of Valdebebas, in Madrid capital, located in the Felipe VI Forest Park (Los Cenagales area). Its documented origin is contemporary: the image was carved in 2018 by the sculptor Jesus Arévalo taking advantage of the trunk or touch of a centenary pine rooted in the park. The version released by the promoter association (AMAVA) and the local press agrees that it is a size made on a pre-existing tree, not an ancient Marian apparition. There is no account of miraculous finding in the style of other claims: the verifiable is a size on a pine, presented as a citizen initiative to maintain a Marian presence in Valdebebas.

Main data

Origin and history

La Virgen del Abrazo is a recent local devotion of Valdebebas, in Madrid capital, located in the Felipe VI Forest Park (Los Cenagales area). Its documented origin is contemporary: the image was carved in 2018 by the sculptor Jesus Arévalo taking advantage of the trunk or touch of a centenary pine rooted in the park. The version released by the promoter association (AMAVA) and the local press agrees that it is a size made on a pre-existing tree, not an ancient Marian apparition. There is no account of miraculous finding in the style of other claims: the verifiable is a size on a pine, presented as a citizen initiative to maintain a Marian presence in Valdebebas.

The image and the sanctuary

La imagen está tallada directamente en el tronco de un pino centenario del parque de Valdebebas, de modo que el árbol parece «abrazar» la figura, de donde toma su nombre, con una lectura simbólica de cercanía y amparo. No consta que sea una imagen parroquial ni que esté adscrita canónicamente a una parroquia concreta; nació como iniciativa vecinal y artística en espacio público, aunque el movimiento vecinal estuvo vinculado en su origen con la parroquia de San Antonio de Las Cárcavas. No consta un santuario ni un templo propio: la imagen se encuentra al aire libre, en el parque.

Sponsorship and coronation

There is no official recognition of the Virgin of the Hugs as a canonical advocation, nor a specific diocesan approval cited in the sources consulted; it is a popular devotion not officially recognized by the Church. There is no patronage of any locality or canonical or liturgical coronation.

Party and devotion

It does not clearly contain a party of its own or an official liturgical date specific to this advocation; the documented is a recent local devotion, without its own established calendar. As a verifiable anecdote, when the City Council of Madrid promoted the withdrawal of the image of the park, neighbors and devotees were mobilized in their defense, and the matter reached the full of the district of Hortaleza, where the withdrawal was decided by a vote of margin according to the Catholic and local press. This controversy explains much of the popular arraigo of the size in Valdebebas.

Link to the Rosary

There is no specific link of the Virgin of the Hugs to the Rosary. As it is a recent devotion and a neighbouring initiative in public space, without established canonical veneration or calendar of its own, there is no organized rosarian practice or associated rosarian advocation.