St. James, fisherman, apostle and fisher of men is one of the disciples of Jesus Christ who is inseparably linked to Spain where, according to tradition, he preached and was buried.

St. James the Greater was one of two sons of Zebedee and Maria Salome. The other was John, the apostle and evangelist.

After the Ascension of the Lord, the apostles went out into different regions where each one was to carry out the sacred mission of preaching the Gospel. St. James went to distant Hispania, but his mission was not successful. This is where the Virgin Mary enters the scene when, atop a pillar aside the Ebro River, she appears to the Zebedee and exhorts him to return to Jerusalem in light of the few fruits of his labor.