Little by little, Pilar Square has filled with color and symbolism. Venezuela's floral flag, as this year's invited country, is already on display, and the Cross of Lorraine, dressed in red this year, has also been installed. Between spectators and participants, Pilar Square has already received more than 385,000 people since 5 a.m., following the Infants' Mass at the Basilica of the Pillar. The Flower Offering is expected to end around midnight.
This year's 2026 edition has 994 registered groups and nearly 100,000 participants, in addition to the individual participants who join throughout the day. The morning saw a minor problem at the entrances, causing a delay of around half an hour due to the influx of individual participants. However, the issue has now been resolved and, according to Uriol, the Offering was once again proceeding normally.
BRACELETS TO PREVENT INCIDENTS
This year, the organizers have strengthened checks to ensure that groups respect both the number of members and their assigned schedule. Each group has a limit of 200 people and has received bracelets to facilitate identification and verify that its registration is maintained. "When people complain about delays, it is because more people join than were registered," Uriol explained, also pointing to attempts by some participants to join as individuals in order to avoid the time slot assigned to them.
To prevent this, entrances are being checked and groups attempting to enter through a different location from the one assigned to them are being redirected. In such cases, the organizers may remove their banners and direct participants to the appropriate entrance. These measures seek to maintain the pace of a mass procession and prevent waits from becoming longer for those waiting behind.
Midday is usually one of the most delicate moments of the day, when many participants want to finish their route so they can reunite with their families around the table. After the initial delay, Uriol confirmed that the situation had been resolved and everything was back on schedule. Meanwhile, Zaragoza continues to draw closer to its patron saint, bouquet by bouquet, in a celebration where emotion is renewed with every carnation and the Virgin's mantle grows with the stories of those who come, another year, to offer her their flowers.
