El Traginer Festival, the most traditional one in Lloret de Mar

On the second Sunday of the year, El Traginer Festival, one of the most traditional festivals in the municipality, is celebrated in the hermitage of les Alegries in Lloret de Mar. During this celebration, a chocolate, children's games, a mass for the dead, popular sardanas and a representation of the legend of El Traginer are usually organized.

The "traginers" ("muleteers" in English) were the people who worked transporting goods such as heather, firewood, coal, cloth or food, among others, using beasts of burden such as horses, donkeys, mules or oxen. For many years they made possible the exchange of both merchandise and information between farmhouses, towns and cities.

Legend of El Traginer

According to legend, at the beginning of the 18th century, when the current Sanctuary of les Alegries had ceased to be the parish church of Sant Romà at least two hundred years ago, a muleteer from Lloret de Mar returned from work with his horse and his cart passed by the hermitage of les Alegries and saw that there was mass. He entered and gazed at a crowd of people he did not recognize dressed entirely in white.

When he came to town and told it, no one believed him. When they went to check it out, they found the hermitage empty and the candles still warm. Everyone thought that it had been a mass attended by the souls of Lloret de Mar from past centuries who were resting in a nearby cemetery. For this reason, every year at the beginning of January an offertory service is celebrated for the deceased.

Hermitage of les Alegries

Mare de Déu de les Alegries’ hermitage is located 2.5 kilometers from the center of Lloret de Mar. It is the third oldest hermitage in the town, after the hermitage of Sant Quirze and the first parish of Sant Romà.

It consists of an isolated building with a rectangular floor plan covered with a double-sided roof. The main façade has an entrance door with stone jambs and an oculus. The upper part is decorated with two baroque spirals made with maroon-colored tiles and right in the middle there is a niche with the Virgin and a large wrought iron cross.

In the northern part, it has a square bell tower, with a door on the ground floor, small and with a semicircular arch. The roof is made of tile and has four slopes. Above the door there is a window and, above it, two more windows with a semicircular arch on each facade.

From the Romanesque period, the lower part of the bell tower is preserved up to the first level of windows and a recent restoration has highlighted the Romanesque façade and side walls.

At the beginning of the 20th century, a reform was carried out, financed by the brothers Narcís and Joan Gelats, which modified the façade, the entrance door and the interior of the hermitage, with six paintings by the Malaga’ painter Rafael Martínez Padilla. A second level with a double window was also added to the bell tower and later the roof was built with Lombard arches.

This hermitage opens to the public on few occasions: on its Fiesta Mayor, which is celebrated on September 8; during the Flower Festival, held during the month of May, and during El Traginer Festival, which takes place on the first Sunday after Three Kings.

Consecration of the hermitage of les Alegries

In the 11th century, Sicardis de Montsoriu, a Catalan noblewoman from the early Middle Ages with the title of Lady of Lloret de Mar, promoted and facilitated the construction of the church of Sant Romà, now the hermitage of les Alegries.

The hermitage was consecrated on January 8, 1079 by the bishop of Gerona Berenguer Wifred, becoming the first place that served as a parish after the separation of Lloret de Mar from the municipality of Maçanet de la Selva.

It is not surprising that the first parish was so far from the current urban nucleus of Lloret de Mar, since at that time the town was a scattering of peasant houses located in the interior area. Gradually a small population nucleus began to form around the castle of Sant Joan in Lloret de Mar, which took on the demographic weight with respect to the set of scattered farmhouses.

At the beginning of the 16th century, a new parish church was built within that urban nucleus, the works of which ended in 1522, and the parish of the hermitage of les Alegries was moved to its current location. Once the parish had been moved, the hermitage received different names, such as “Old Church” or “Ancient Virgin Mary”, until the 18th century when it was consecrated with its current name.

Stay in Lloret de Mar

This 2025, live a unique experience in Lloret de Mar with Rosamar Hotels. Give the gift of a surprise trip without a date in any of our establishments with the Rosamar Plus gift card.

Hotel Rosamar Es Blau Adults Only +21 and Hotel Rosamar Maxim Adults Only +21 are adults-only hotels located at the northern end of Lloret de Mar beach, a few meters from the sea and very close to the center of the municipality. They have a swimming pool, entertainment and nightly entertainment and buffet restaurants.

Hotel Rosamar Maritim, Hotel Rosamar Garden Resort and Hotel Rosamar & Spa are family hotels also located at the end of the beach in Lloret de Mar. They have services for children (swimming pools, children's entertainment and slides and water attractions...) and also for adults (spa, gym, dance hall...).

We are waiting for you this 2025 on the Costa Brava!