内容摘要：’s president on Monday set Oct. 12 as the date for municipal elections, while the country remains in a legislative impasse without a functioning parliament and a new Cabinet since its Feb. 9 parliamentary vote.

’s president on Monday set Oct. 12 as the date for municipal elections, while the country remains in a legislative impasse without a functioning parliament and a new Cabinet since its Feb. 9 parliamentary vote.

“They come laden with intentions, supplications, prayers. And it’s the moment we shake their hands, we hug and we give thanks to the Virgin for this pilgrimage they made,” said Padilla, whose family has been pilgrims for generations.Pilgrims stand at shore of the Quema river near Aznalcázar, Spain, a crucial point in the annual Catholic pilgrimage to the shrine of the Virgin of El Rocio that draws hundreds of thousands of faithful, on June 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

Pilgrims stand at shore of the Quema river near Aznalcázar, Spain, a crucial point in the annual Catholic pilgrimage to the shrine of the Virgin of El Rocio that draws hundreds of thousands of faithful, on June 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)Padilla wore an impeccably white jacket and formal riding kit, like many members of the brotherhoods who do the pilgrimage on horseback. Women wear shawls and long, flaring dresses or skirts — to better ride sideways on horses and protect themselves from the brush and the sun.Such outfits might look like Spanish stereotypes, but they pay homage to the working traditions of many families from the area.

“Everything that has a good presence takes us a bit closer to God,” said Ignacio Sabater Wasaldúa, the Triana brotherhood leader. He rode horses this year alongside his son, helping lead the dozens of wagons and thousands of pilgrims on foot.Pilgrims from Triana brotherhood attend to a mass on their way to the shrine of El Rocio near Aznalcazar, Spain, during the annual Catholic pilgrimage to the shrine of the Virgin of El Rocio, that draws hundreds of thousands of faithful, on June 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

Pilgrims from Triana brotherhood attend to a mass on their way to the shrine of El Rocio near Aznalcazar, Spain, during the annual Catholic pilgrimage to the shrine of the Virgin of El Rocio, that draws hundreds of thousands of faithful, on June 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

The brotherhoods stress that their commitment to Christian life transcends one yearly pilgrimage — though it draws inspiration from it and they wouldn’t considerand the 101st Airborne Division of the U.S. Army in 1957 to escort nine Black students as they integrated a previously white-only school.

In this Sept. 26, 1957, file photo, members of the 101st Airborne Division take up positions outside Central High School in Little Rock, Ark. The troops were on duty to enforce integration at the school. (AP Photo/File)In this Sept. 26, 1957, file photo, members of the 101st Airborne Division take up positions outside Central High School in Little Rock, Ark. The troops were on duty to enforce integration at the school. (AP Photo/File)

A few years later, the Maryland National Guard remained in the small town of Cambridge for two years after Maryland’s Democratic Gov. J Millard Tawes in 1963 called in troops to mediate violent clashes between white mobs and Black protesters demanding desegregation.National Guard troops played a pivotal role in the march often credited with pressuring the passage of Voting Rights Act of 1965, when nonviolent protesters — including the late congressman John Lewis — calling for the right to vote were