Parroquia de San Joaquín y Santa Ana

The Roquetera de El Puerto has fulfilled a dream by having the new church dedicated to Santa Ana and San Joaquín, the grandparents of Jesus Christ, who was blessed in a hearty ceremony presided by the Bishop of Almería Adolfo González Montes, with the assistance of several priests from various places in the province.

The new and magnificent temple has space for 700 faithful sitting and a total place of 1300 people, finding themselves crowded on the day of their first opening of doors.

The new church comes to resolve a historic claim of the populous and chaste-Roman neighbourhood, as for 38 years religious offices were held in parish halls.

The work has had an investment of about 2.5 million euros, contruding in two years. It has been designed by the team RGRM Arquitectos, formed by Juanjo and Lola Ruiz. The financing has been carried out by the Obispado being the land freely ceded by the city council.

It stands out in its modern design, light, whiteness and the marine environment of the neighborhood that is reflected in the waves and the sea that are meant on the roof. The choir has an elevated stay for liturgical songs. The project began to take place four years ago, with the basements dedicated to catechesis classrooms and meeting rooms for various activities.

During the opening ceremony a relic of San Isidro de Sevilla was introduced in a urn, purifying the Bishop of the altar to unite with oil as a symbol of praise. 24 hours before the opening, the images of Santa Ana, Virgen del Carmen and Santo Cristo del Mar were transferred to the streets in procession, recognizing in a social act the work of several faithful throughout these years. Ramón Bogas Crespo is the head of the parish.

The architects highlighted in their words prior to the ceremony that designed the new temple “in the framework of contemporary architecture. They asked us never to forget that the church is for the village of El Puerto. White, sea and light are their elements. The roof is the sea of Roquetas shaken by the wind.” Hundreds of people attended the ceremony, attended by local authorities, councillors of the government and opposition team.

One of the most exciting moments was the consecration of the altar, on which the Bishop poured incense after a wave of oil and cleaned it with a cloth, in symbol of praise. Since 1973 El Puerto de Roquetas celebrated his religious acts in the parish halls of some ships, being now when almost 40 years later the faithful achieved their longing for parish, a clear, high-rise building, with a lot of brightness and softness and enormously functional.