The botafumeiro: when to see it

Updated 31 July 2026.

The botafumeiro doesn't fly at random: the Cathedral publishes a fixed calendar of twelve solemnities on which it's guaranteed to swing. Outside those dates, it can still fly if a group has booked and paid for it in advance — which happens more often than the twelve fixed dates alone would suggest. Here's what's worth knowing before you plan around it.

The 12 guaranteed dates

According to the liturgical calendar published by the Cathedral (catedraldesantiago.es/liturgia), the botafumeiro flies at the main Mass on these twelve solemnities. The movable dates shift each year with the liturgical calendar — here are the next concrete ones:

Outside those dates: more likely than it sounds

The mechanism was designed with around 12 flights a year in mind — the dates above. In practice it flies far more: Daniel Lorenzo, director of the Cathedral Foundation, explained in 2024 that it can swing up to three times in a single day, given how many groups book it privately. So seeing it is considerably more likely than the twelve-date list implies, though it's never guaranteed on a random day unless it lines up with a solemnity or a private booking.

How to book it for a group

Requests go in writing to botafumeiro@catedraldesantiago.es, through the Pilgrim Reception Office. There's no official published fee, but press sources and tour operators that arrange these bookings put the cost at around €450-500, unofficial and approximate, paid by bank transfer and usually including reserved bench seating for the group. The Cathedral confirms the exact amount when you make the request.

Do the 2026 works affect it?

No. The interior restoration that moved masses out of the Cathedral ran from 2019 to 2021 and is finished: as of July 2026, every mass — including the pilgrim's mass at 7:30 am, 9:30 am, noon and 7:30 pm — is held inside the Cathedral, at the Altar Mayor. The works currently underway — restoring the Berenguela clock tower (2026-2027) and several chapel roofs — are exterior and don't affect the botafumeiro.

The botafumeiro during Xacobeo 2027

Holy Years bring more pilgrims and more crowded solemn masses, which drives up both guaranteed flights and private bookings — so it's reasonable to expect it to fly more often during Xacobeo 2027. That said, there's no official confirmation it will fly daily or every Sunday: don't assume it, and check the Cathedral's calendar close to your travel dates. Everything else about the Holy Year — the Holy Door, the jubilee indulgence, expected crowds — is covered in the Xacobeo 2027 guide.

How it works: the technical details

The current incense burner is an 1851 brass replica by goldsmith José Losada — the original, solid silver and a gift from King Louis XI of France, was taken by Napoleonic troops. A silver-plating job in 2006 pushed its weight up to around 62 kg (it was closer to 53 kg before the plating); it stands 1.5 m tall.

It hangs from a rope roughly 65 m long and about 5 cm thick, pulled by eight men, the tiraboleiros, hauling together from the crossing floor. It's loaded with incense and charcoal before mass. In full flight it traces an arc of around 65 m between the Azabachería and Praterías doors, reaches up to 21 m in height (an 82° angle) and speeds of up to 68 km/h, with about 17 swings over just over a minute and a half. When the main censer isn't available, a smaller stand-in nicknamed "la Alcachofa" ("the Artichoke") is used instead.

Which mass, and where to stand

On the fixed dates it usually flies at the noon main Mass or the solemnity's central Mass; for private bookings, it's whichever Mass the group has arranged, often 7:30 pm or noon (approximate — it depends on the group). For a good view, the transept arms — near the exit toward the Azabachería, diagonal to the high altar — tend to give a better angle than the central nave, where the censer swings overhead without the swing being as easy to appreciate up close.

Two moments it went wrong

The botafumeiro has been flying for centuries, and only two documented incidents are known. In 1499, with the Infanta Catalina of Aragon present in the Cathedral, it broke loose and smashed against the Praterías door; the popular version where it "flew out the window" is legend — physically impossible, according to experts who've studied the mechanism — though the collision with the door did happen. On 23 May 1622 the rope snapped and it fell to the crossing floor, with no injuries. Other 20th-century anecdotes circulate, but they're unverified.