Okay, Eddie (and anyone else), help me out here.

My husband and I are arriving in Madrid May 12th (YAY!!) Incidentally, we are staying at Hostal Adriano which we "discovered" last year courtesy of MadridMan's Message Boards. Started reading these last year. Wonderful stuff.

My plan was to head south right after San Isidro -- either Sunday the 15th or Monday the 16th. AVE to Sevilla, maybe a stop over in Cordoba or day trip it from Sevilla later. Rent a car for a day or two in Sevilla at some point and head to Jerez, Cadiz, etc. Would like to be in Sevilla for Friday night (naturally). Have to be back in Madrid on Saturday night (oh, darn, I guess I can suffer that.)

So, I just found out that the Romeria is the weekend of the 15th. My question is this: Do we AVOID it at all costs or dig right in and try to catch the duende?

If we should want to experience it, just how in the heck do an American and her Irish husband accomplish this (besides being Catholic-born over a nice pagan heritage -- just like the Romeros ;-))

Where do we go? Where should be stay? How do you participate? etc.

Any help/advice from anyone on this would be greatly appreciated.

The "ermita" of the Virgen del Rocio is near the town of Almonte, I don't have a map next to me right now but it is possible to drive there coming from Seville. The event culminates in the early morning hours of Monday when the almontenos "salta la reja" or jump the gate inside the shrine in order to bring the statue of the Rocio out, at which time if you are there and are able to get anywhere near it, which is unlikely, you will see brawls beyond the wildest stories your Irish husband could imagine, as people clamor desperately for the right to parade the virgen.
The Rocio isnt really my cup of tea, its loud, festive, crowded beyond belief and everyone is more or less drunk the entire time but it's the andalucian ritual par excellence. At the actual Rocio itself are the houses maintained by the various brotherhoods from different Andalucian cities, I'm not sure about alternate sources of accommodation but I imagine that doing the Rocio would be a day (possibly turning to night) trip. I guess its worth it to see the spectacle of men dressed in the traditional 'corto' riding beautiful horses, the horse drawn carriages, and the beautiful women in their 'gypsy dress'. If you do go you're unlikely to forget it!

Thank you for you response. You pretty much confirmed what I was imagining. Although I can hold my own on a good night out in Madrid until at least 7am, I remember really disliking Las Fallas (somehow a drunk guy pointing roman candles at random groups in a crowd didn't really appeal to me -- go figure). I would imagine with something like the Romeria you really need to be part of a group that knows what they are doing or is somehow hooked up to really enjoy it. Loved your comment about the hubby :-). Thanks again for the response.

Wow, just visited your houseinjerez.com site. Lovely apartment, and really enjoyed the content on the site.

I think we'll give a skip to hunting down the Romeria. Looks like we will take the train from Sevilla to Cadiz on May 16th (Lunes de El Rocio, no?) for a night. Might stop off in Jerez on the way back. If we were spending the night in Jerez, would definitely consider your apartment.

Hey, while I am thinking about that, do you happen to know if there is a left-luggage section at the train station in Jerez, or any lockers? We would be traveling fairly light, but would definitely need to leave the bags at the station.