Where and when do the free buses leave?

From the Estación de Guaguas in San Sebastián de La Gomera, on Monday 5 October, at 09:30, 10:00 and 10:30 (council release of 24 September 2026).

The council writes that a seat can be requested at the Centro Juvenil until 1 October, "para garantizar que nadie se quede sin transporte". Whether you can board without a request, it does not say.

Is there a return service?

None is published. That does not mean there is none — only that it has not been published.

Does the Virgen travel to San Sebastián by boat?

Not in 2026. The sea crossing belongs to the Bajada held every five years; the last was on 9 October 2023, the next is 2028 (CanariWiki of the Canary Islands government).

Does the holiday move my deadline?

A festivo is not counted in deadlines set in days, under article 30.2 of Ley 39/2015; if the last day falls on one, article 30.5 moves the deadline on.

Three free buses to Puntallana on 5 October

Three free buses to Puntallana: if you want a seat, ask by 1 October

On Monday 5 October three free buses run to the Puntallana pilgrimage: at 09:30, 10:00 and 10:30 from the Estación de Guaguas in San Sebastián de La Gomera, with priority for people with reduced mobility. A seat has to be requested at the Centro Juvenil by 1 October. That is what the council's release of 24 September 2026 says, and it justifies the service by the "difficulties of access". It gives no return time, and no time for the mass and procession either.

27 September 2026 · By Lucía Medina Reyes · 5 Min. · Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Editor-in-Chief

The buses, as far as they are published

The departure point is the Estación de Guaguas, not the port. The service is not new: Herrera speaks of "un año más", one more year, and says the offer has been reinforced. What is missing matters as much — no return time, no number of seats, and no word on whether the bus goes all the way to the hermitage or stops at the track. We found nothing published on any of it, and we are not filling the gap. In practice, four working days remain after this weekend before 1 October.

Guadalupe, Puntallana and the Bajada every five years

The Virgen de Guadalupe is the patron of La Gomera; both the council and the Cabildo call her that. Her image stands not in the island capital but in the Ermita y Santuario de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe on the north-east coast, inside the municipality of San Sebastián and inside the Reserva Natural Especial de Puntallana — 292.3 hectares, 0.7% of the island, per the Cabildo. The annual pilgrimage on the Monday after the first Saturday in October brings people to the image. The Bajada brings the image to the people, across the sea to San Sebastián escorted by decorated boats — and according to the Canary Islands government's CanariWiki it happens only every five years: last on 9 October 2023, next in 2028. In the years between, the image leaves the hermitage only for processions in its immediate surroundings.

Why the day counts for deadlines too

5 October is a non-working day on La Gomera and appears as a día inhábil on the council's sede electrónica. Under article 30.2 of Ley 39/2015, Saturdays, Sundays and days declared festivos are not counted in deadlines set in days; if the last day falls on one, article 30.5 extends the deadline to the next working day. Article 30.6 declares a day inhábil "en todo caso" when it is inhábil only where the person lives or only at the seat of the authority. Concretely: edicto no. 2026000082 of 25 September 2026 sets the window for the council's school-materials aid for Educación Infantil at 28 September to 13 October, "ambos inclusive" — 16 calendar days, but by our count only ten with the counter of the Registro de Entrada open (Monday to Friday, 09:00 to 13:30), because 5 and 12 October are both inhábil.

Ferries: what the timetable shows for this Monday

For Monday 5 October, both operators' timetable searches show three crossings each way on the 50-minute Los Cristianos–San Sebastián route. Fred. Olsen Express: out at 09:30, 16:00 and 20:00, back at 07:00, 14:00 and 17:30. Baleària Canarias, the brand Armas Trasmediterránea now sails under: out at 09:15, 14:00 and 20:00, back at 06:30, 12:00 and 17:00. This is not a holiday timetable but the ordinary Monday pattern — on Sunday 4 October Fred. Olsen runs five each way. For the pilgrimage only the early sailing works: 09:15 out, arriving 10:05, or 09:30 out, arriving 10:20 — both before the last free bus at 10:30, the second with ten minutes to spare. Nowhere is it advertised as a connection.

The rest of the October programme

The release gives dates but almost no times. 3 October: the 28th Cross Popular Puntallana, the 12th Cicloturista Isla de La Gomera, the final of the Torneo de Envite, the Muestra de Artesanía with the parranda Chigadá and guest group Tendal from San Andrés y Sauces on La Palma, and eucharist and procession for the Virgen del Rosario at the Iglesia de la Asunción. 4 October: the 7th Festival Folclórico Virgen de Guadalupe at the amphitheatre of the Parque de la Torre del Conde, and the canary-breeding show of the Asociación Ornitológica Garajonay. 9 October: Vocal Sampling at the Auditorio de La Gomera. Plus the presentation of Roberto Padrón's book "Gomer@s" (1 October), the 5th Certamen Literario Félix Casanova de Ayala and a concert by the Banda de la Escuela de Música with Emilio Negrín (2 October), and the Virgen de la Salud in Las Nieves (11 October).