Santa Gertrudis: Festivals and the Camino de las Ermitas

Santa Gertrudis offers several reasons to visit: fiestas with dates that change from year to year, culinary and musical traditions, and a section of the Camino de las Ermitas. Whether your stay is planned around a festival or the one-way route affects how you schedule your visit.

Atrium of the Iglesia de Santa Gertrudis

The atrium of the Iglesia de Santa Gertrudis has been extensively improved through a municipal initiative. A municipal notice dated January 15, 2026, reports that the fountain, street furniture, and green spaces were renovated.

Fiestas and pilgrimage

The dates of February 3 and 4 and the period from November 16 to 18 serve as general guides for the Fiestas de Santa Gertrudis. These dates may vary from year to year. If you want to plan your trip around a festival, check that year's program before scheduling specific days.

The fiestas include activities and games for children, as well as pétanque competitions for men and women; individual programs may vary. The tradition also includes a long pilgrimage through the fields of Marchena and Tercia. At residents' request, the procession may stop in individual neighborhoods and at homes.

Culinary festival traditions

Culinary festival traditions take two different forms: an elaborately decorated meringue Tortada is prepared as a tombola prize to benefit the festivities, while on the feast day honoring Saint Gertrude, residents share a communal meal featuring the classic arroz con pava, rice with turkey.

Cuadrillas, singing, and dancing

The Cuadrilla de Santa Gertrudis de Tercia is associated with Christmas singing, as well as pasodoble and folk dancing. The festival tradition also includes the auction of the famous large Tortada.

The traditional Encuentro de cuadrillas de Santa Gertrudis resumed after several years without being held. A municipal report dated March 5, 2026, lists it as part of a cultural program comprising ten Cuadrilla gatherings from November to March across the municipality of Lorca; Santa Gertrudis was one of the venues. If you want to include a future edition in your travel plans, check the announced dates again.

The dates refer to different event periods: the fiestas have general guide dates in February and November, while the cultural program of Cuadrilla gatherings ran from November to March.

The Camino de las Ermitas

The third section of the Camino de las Ermitas is a 16.88-kilometer one-way route. It starts at the Ermita de Santa Gertrudis and passes several other hermitages before reaching the Ermita del Burruezo. The distance refers to the route to the other endpoint, not a round trip back to the starting point; plan separately for your return or onward travel.

A user-submitted route description, uploaded on June 4, 2019, gives this itinerary. Check the current route, conditions, and accessibility before planning.

Discover more destinations: San Javier, Aledo, Zarcilla De Ramos, Los Garcías, Lorca, Fortuna, Caravaca De La Cruz, La Corona.

For the broader travel overview: Murcia.