Tourism: Hey, Look at The Pilgrims!

For the past 170 years, thousands of devout Hispanic Roman Catholics have spent Good Friday tramping along roads that lead to Chimayo, a sleepy New Mexico village known for the sacred earth upon which the Santuario de Chimayo sits. Many of the pilgrims carry crosses on their journey, but this year they may feel inclined to brandish signs that say TOURISTS GO HOME! The source of their ire: New Mexico’s tourism department, which is hyping the local shrine as the “Lourdes of America” in full-page ads in a dozen slick magazines, including Travel & Leisure, Holiday and Southern Living.

Worshipers are signing a petition condemning the ads, which tout the chapel and its indigenous liturgy as “just one of the many wonders . . . waiting for you,” along with shopping for local weavings. Tourism official Marsha Adams acknowledges that the state should have consulted the Archdiocese of Santa Fe before launching the ad campaign, which probably will never run again. Meanwhile, in another manifestation of their protest, pilgrims say they will bar tourists from photographing their procession.