Feel the magic of fantasy, the epic and the majestic, mystical and spiritual awe.
This Friday, May 8, 2026, the Divina Pastora de las Almas (Divine Shepherdess of Souls) was carried on a litter from her seat in the Parroquia Matriz de San Juan Bautista (Mother Parish of Saint John the Baptist) to the Real Colegio de Santa Isabel, where she will remain for 3 weeks for her worship.
The event began after the evening Mass. At around 20:45, the procession passed through the doors of the church and entered the heart of the historic centre. The procession went through Padre Marchena Street, San Francisco Street, Carreras Street, stopped at the convent of San Andrés (Saint Andrew), and Compañía Street. The choir formed by male and female students of Santa Isabel recited songs dedicated to the Virgin.
The Divina Pastora (Divine Shepherdess) will remain at the school throughout the month of May, the “month of Mary,” making her the focus of commemorative events with the students.
A few years ago, and with hardly anyone noticing due to the required confidentiality, an entire filming set was installed right on the esplanade of the Church of Santa María de la Mota in Marchena. It was November 18, 2019, when Giorgio Armani had chosen Marchena as the ideal location to film part of the campaign for his new perfume “My Way.” The actress Adria Arjona, known for series such as Andor (from the Star Wars universe), True Detective, Person of Interest and Blood Omen, among others, stars in this advertisement in which she travels the world through countries that represent the essence of the perfume. And one of the ingredients is, in fact, orange blossom.
Slow motion:
The report by RTV Marchena, where many images from the moment of filming can be seen:
It’s been a very long time since I last posted anything about Paquito, my hand-raised cockatiel, who recently turned 15. The reason is that for the past few years his feathers have been in very poor condition and he hasn’t been feeling well. Apparently, in the end it turned out to be fatty liver disease (a very common condition in this species) caused by feeding him a diet made up only of seeds. That’s the only kind of food they sell here in Marchena for cockatiels, and I didn’t know it was unhealthy for them. Since I started buying him a pellet food on Amazon (one made for budgerigars, because the one made for cockatiels is too large for him to eat, but he absolutely loves the budgie one—I buy one called Versele‑Laga B14), he has become much more lively. He chatters constantly and has started molting his feathers, so I hope that this time they will grow back beautiful and healthy.
Cockatiels belong to the parrot family. Like parakeets and other psittacine species such as parrots and cockatoos, when humans hand-feed them from a very young age with formula, they become familiar with people, very tame, and can learn words and whistles. In this particular case, I wasn’t the one who hand-fed him. A breeder from Palma del Río (Córdoba) raised him and sold him to me already hand-fed, when he was about 30 days old. I went to pick him up there on December 28, 2010—I still remember the date. His name is Paquito because he started saying it before I had even chosen a name for him. It turns out the breeder kept him in a cage with his father—what he called his “tutor”—so he could learn from him, because his father used to say “Paquito” a lot. An interesting curiosity about cockatiels is that they are the species of bird that sneezes the most. It’s very funny to watch them sneeze. It’s not because they have a cold; it’s just something they commonly do.
I made this video when he turned 10 years old to post on my social media. It’s a compilation of different videos I had of him.
© 2026 Francisco González SOLEMNITY