El Rocío is a small village in the south of
Spain, in Andalucía, which is especially fa-
mous for welcoming thousands of faithful
who come as pilgrims to celebrate the
feast of the Virgin of El Rocío. Maintaining
the tradition, pilgrims walk, ride a horse, or
come in carts drawn by horses or donkeys.
The pilgrimage is difficult and one can ima-
gine what it was like one hundred years
ago when the basic needs, such as water
supply, were not covered.
With the passage of time, certain basic
amenities have been incorporated to im-
prove the quality of life of the pilgrims and
visitors. During three days, the village’s po-
pulation increases from 1,000 to 800,000
thanks to the people who come to honour
the Virgin. Since 1992, FCC Aqualia has
met the challenge of providing services to
this large number of people.
Providing services to a population that in-
creases 400 times
Each year, the municipal water service of El
Rocio changes radically during a few days.
The infrastructures of this village are desig-
ned for a stable population of 1,850 people
and, therefore, the work of the FCC Aqualia
team focuses on optimising the installa-
tions to be able to serve 52 million litres of