This chapter investigates the phenomenon of medieval pilgrimages to mountain shrines and their contemporary revival as postmodern physical practices in rural settings. This growth encompasses both religious and secular pilgrimages, unveiling evolving social, economic, and cultural contexts. The research focuses specifically on the unique case of western Castellón and eastern Teruel in Spain, where pilgrimages to mountain shrines have been preserved. Fieldwork was conducted in the pilgrimages between 2017 and 2019, and the data were analyzed to find the motivations and meanings behind these pilgrimages. The findings shed light on the potential benefits that the recovery of pilgrimages can offer to rural communities, such as population stabilization and the promotion of cultural heritage.
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It is paradoxical that in the age of immediacy, of uncertainty, in which the only sure thing is constant change, in which the metaphor of the pilgrim no longer serves to illustrate people's life strategy (Bauman, 1996) is at the same time the age of the resurgence of one of the most deeply rooted and traditional practices of European culture: pilgrimages. Today, it is estimated that there are more than 6000 Western European pilgrimage centers (Nolan & Nolan, 2018). In this growth one finds pilgrimages linked to the religious aspect of earlier times, however others are experienced without the slightest attachment to organized religion (Reader, 2007). It is true that, nowadays, both pilgrimages and their pilgrims, as well as the social, economic and value context in which they are framed, have little to do with those of previous times. The world of pilgrimages, halfway between the traditional and the present, has changed as much as its pilgrims (Pazos, 2014).
The first Christian pilgrimages sought to reach the places where Jesus and the apostles had lived. In the 4th century, Constantine, the first Christian Roman emperor, built constructions to facilitate the arrival of pilgrims to places that had become popular destinations such as Jerusalem and Bethlehem (Sorabella, 2011). Subsequently, in the Middle Ages, pilgrims could make long and short journeys, both to major destinations such as Rome and Jerusalem, as well as to countless local shrines (Webb, 2017). Such was the importance of these practices that they are recognized as the germ of today's Europe, since the longer routes allowed for cultural and economic exchange between peoples of different kingdoms, and in turn enjoyed the protection of Christian monarchs and nobles.
However, as industrialization took off in the 18th century, many people left the rural environment to work in the cities where the industries that needed labor were located. This process was also accompanied by economic, social, and technological changes. There is no doubt that religion, the church, and everything related to it went from occupying one of the most privileged and central places in people's lives to being displaced by the push of new institutions and ways of thinking closer to scientific thought and economic profitability. These two factors caused pilgrimages, especially those located in more local contexts, generally rural, to lose what made them alive: the pilgrims and the reasons to go on pilgrimage.
In Spain, which is the focus of this paper, industrialization was late compared to the rest of Europe. Therefore, the effects on pilgrimages were noticeable only later. In the area of influence of the pilgrimages we are studying here, it was not until the second half of the 19th century that the exodus to the cities due to industrialization began to appear (Pajero, 2006). At the beginning of the 20th century, the process of depopulation of rural areas was accentuated by the effect of the transformation and concentration of agricultural production and the opening of the economy. With these transformations, the rogations suffered an important identity crisis and, in some cases, these practices were abandoned.