Manresa's city council welcomed the cyclists who had done a solidarity pilgrimage across Ignatian Way. · 08/07/2021

This Thursday, Manresa’s mayor, Marc Aloy Guàrdia, and tourism’s councillor, Joan Calmet Piqué, welcomed in Espai 1522 the two cyclists who had done a solidary pilgrimage from Azpeitia to Manresa, following the same way as Ignatius of Loyola 500 years ago. The initiative makes part of the Ignatius500 program, promoted by the Society of Jesus. It can be followed in the social network through this hashtag: #BicislG500. 

The pilgrimage had three objectives: collect money for an assistance campaign called “Seguimos”, reinforce the link between spirituality and sport, and make the Ignatian Way visible. It is a path of 681 kilometres that had its start at Loyola’s Sanctuary in the Basque Country, cross Navarre, La Rioja, Aragon and Catalonia to finish in Manresa. The two cyclists who had done the pilgrimage, are David Ramos and Juan Carlos Atta, and work in ECCA Radio (a Canarian radio station belonging to the Society of Jesus that  educates through Distance Education 40,000 students, 75% of them grant-holding).  The two pilgrims had been aided by two colleagues who had done logistic and communicative support.

At their arrival to Manresa, the cyclists delivered to Manresa’s Mayor, a commemorative maillot and a baton given to them by Azpeitia’s Mayor, as a symbol of the mutual cooperation between the two towns, which are the start and the end of the Ignatian Way.   In its turn Manresa’s mayor gave them a bag of Manresa 2022 and a little book about the 22 Manresa’s ignatian places, a notebook – also commemorative of Manresa 2022- and a reusable bottle with the Heart of Catalonia symbol.