Just a few kilometres from the new Circuito di Motocross di Almonte venue lies the ancient village of El Rocío, which often attracts hundreds of thousands of pilgrims for its various religious celebrations throughout the year. This Thursday evening, the village welcomed local dignitaries and organisers of the inaugural MXGP of Andalucia, as the gathering launched the event in the shadow of the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Dew, the famous Hermitage that is the centre of most of the area’s festivities.

The village has hardly any paved streets, so locals generally ride on horseback over the sandy makeshift roads between the buildings. Directly adjacent to the marshland of Madre de las Marismas del Rocío, it is a distinctly unique environment!

After a Floral Offering and a photocall in the Sanctuary itself, the Parish Priest and Rector of the Sanctuary of El Rocío, D. Francisco Miguel Valencia Bando, gave a prayer of blessing to the event before Rocío Moreno Dominguez, Vice President of the Provincial Council of Huelva, welcomed everybody to the area.

Daniele Rizzi, COO of Infront Moto Racing, joined Antonio Alia Portela, FIM/CMS Director, in expressing their gratitude for the welcome and hard work by the local organisers, as RFME President Ignacio Verneda, CEO of MXGP Almonte Antonio Parici, and Director General of MXGP Almonte Antonio Abad joined them onstage to show their excitement at the Championship making its first visit to the region.

The gathered dignitaries and fans were treated to the specially-composed anthem for the race, with its author Fran Fernández showing a startling video of how the race might look with wildlife surrounding the circuit! After more delegates showed their appreciation for the event, the RFME Spain National Team was presented onstage, including WMX contender Daniela Guillen, EMX250 riders Manuel Carreras and Adria Monne, plus EMX125 racer Jordi Alba. Local schoolchildren flew the flags of all the competing Nations, with the largest cheer being reserved for the national flag of Spain, of course!

The flags of Huelva, Andalucia, and finally Almonte were carried to the stage by local riders on their bikes, filling the square with the sounds of dirt bikes for possibly the first time!

This historic region has certainly showed its joy at hosting the first European round of the 2026 FIM Moocross World Championship, and MXGP is clearly very welcome here for the very first MXGP of Andalucia!