Long Queues to See the Restored Macarena After Eyelash Mishap

Devotees are waiting up to three hours in line to pray once again before the Virgin of Macarena, who returned to worship in her Seville temple at six in the morning this Monday after undergoing restoration since last August following a failed previous intervention commissioned by the Brotherhood itself.

It was in mid-June when the revered image of the Macarena, one of the devotional icons of the Andalusian capital, underwent a minor restoration that kept it away from its shrine for four days. Upon its return, alarm bells rang: its face was not the same, the shape of its eyelashes had changed, and its gaze was distorted, sparking criticism from brothers and devotees.

The uproar was so great that the brotherhood urged Professor Francisco Arquillo, the author of the controversial restoration, to perform another intervention, which still left the Macarena followers completely dissatisfied. Days later, hundreds of faithful gathered at the brotherhood's headquarters demanding the resignation of the board of directors and a complete restoration of the image.

The Virgin was removed on August 12 and has remained away from the eyes of her devotees for nearly four months, in the hands of experts from the Andalusian Institute of Historical Heritage (IAPH) and other specialists, including art history professors, a sculptor-imaginer, two conservator-restorers, a chemist, and a photographer.

The restoration, now led by art conservation and restoration specialist Pedro Manzano, included several actions, from the eyelashes on the face to a carbon-14 test to determine the exact age of the image (17th century), as well as an intensive treatment to eliminate wood-eating insects that had attacked the wood.

After the work, the Macarena has "regained her gaze and all her splendour," and her return to the Sevillian neighbourhood temple has mobilised thousands of faithful, who, expectantly, have been queuing since midnight to venerate their Virgin. "She's back!" exclaimed those leaving the temple, relieved to see that the statue has regained its expression, putting an end to what they describe as "a nightmare."

Queues are expected to grow this holiday Monday, the day of the Immaculate Conception. She can be venerated for three days, from Monday between 6:00 and 23:00 until Wednesday the 10th. And with the horizon of December 18, the feast day of Esperanza Macarena, and above all, without endangering her traditional procession on April 3, during the 'madrugá' of Seville's Holy Week.