Institutional Affiliation with the Brotherhood of San Esteban

DECLARATION OF INSTITUTIONAL AFFILIATION OF THE METROPOLITAN TRANSPORT CONSORTIUM OF THE SEVILLE AREA WITH THE BROTHERHOOD OF SAN ESTEBAN OF SEVILLE.

"The annals of the confraternities of Seville tell that the Fervent Brotherhood and Confraternity of Nazarenes of Our Father Jesus of Health and Good Journey, Maria Most Holy Mother of the Abandoned, San Juan de Ribera and Protomartyr San Esteban was founded on May 9, 1926 with the purpose of publicly worshiping an old terracotta image that had been venerated in a chapel located at the head of the epistle nave of the church of San Esteban for at least two centuries. This chapel had a window to the street and through it, travelers leaving the city by the nearby Carmona Gate would entrust themselves to the one popularly known as the Lord of the Window for health and a safe journey.

From then until today, the need for people to move has only increased, becoming a daily routine that must be guaranteed by Public Administrations. To coordinate the public transport system in the metropolitan area of Seville, the Metropolitan Transport Consortium of the Seville area was established in 2001, consisting of the Junta de Andalucía, the Provincial Council of Seville, the city of Seville and 21 municipalities of the province which in 2006 expanded to 38 and since 2010 to 45.

Almost twenty years later, more than 800,000 citizens of the Seville metropolitan area have a subsidized transport card to make their public transport journeys, clearly showing the roots of this institution with Seville and its metropolitan area.

With the aim of strengthening the ties of the Metropolitan Transport Consortium with the history and traditions of its territorial scope, there is an interest in making a formal institutional visit to the Church of San Esteban on Holy Tuesday morning, to make a floral offering to the Brotherhood of San Esteban, considering the origin of the advocacy of the main image of the brotherhood's Christ float and its special link with mobility."

Based on this declaration of institutional linkage, on Holy Tuesday of 2021, a representation of the Consortium, led by the Minister of Development, Infrastructure, and Territorial Planning, Ms. Marifrán Carazo and attended by the Deputy Minister of Development, Infrastructure, and Territorial Planning, Mario Muñoz-Atanet; the Director-General of Mobility, Felipe Arias, the delegate of the Ministry of Development in Seville, Susana Cayuelas, and the managing director of the consortium, Juan Carlos García, went to the Church of San Esteban to make a floral offering to the Sacred Holders of the Brotherhood of San Esteban, where they were received by its Chief Brother, Mr. Luis Tovaruela.

During this visit, representatives of this metropolitan entity highlighted "the bond initiated two years ago with a brotherhood with such tradition and so deeply rooted in the city of Seville as that of San Esteban", which has as its holders Our Father Jesus of Health and Good Journey "who has since time immemorial watched over travelers of the province" and Maria Most Holy Mother of the Abandoned, and they showed the willingness of the Consortium and the Ministry of Development, Infrastructure, and Territorial Planning to continue strengthening ties with the beloved Brotherhood of Águilas street in the future.