Semana Santa

I had read about Easter week in Spain and knew it was a big deal, but I didn’t realize how big of a deal until I was here for it. Preparations were underway 3 weeks ago when I was in Málaga and I saw them setting up scaffolding and bleachers.

In Ronda last week I saw some tiny children doing a little parade that was foreshadowing what was to come.

Starting the Sunday before Good Friday there are numerous daily parades that travel from church to church. Each starts with a marching band.

Then there are people wearing hooded robes carrying crosses and candles. It is a symbol of atoning for your sins. I did some research and found out that the costumes predate the KKK.

Some of them handed out small cards to the audience as they passed by.

Next come the incense swingers.

What follows is the ‘main event’. Somewhere around 40 strapping young men (all wearing back supports) carry a huge platform with either Christ or Mary (or a biblical scene). It is slow moving as they can’t see where they’re going, so there are guides to tell them to move left or right. The carriers change out quite frequently, arousing applause from the audience.

Some of the parades have a group of women wearing black following, though many did not.

I saw parades like this in 4 different cities. One day I asked one of my hosts if the parades are always the same. He looked at me like I was crazy. No, of course not. Look at this schedule. This one starts from this church, that one from that church, etc.  The only real difference that I could see was the colour of the robes they wear.

Every day people dress if their best clothes to witness these parades go by. I get the feel that people buy new outfits to celebrate the occasion. It also seems to be a thing for the kids in a family to wear matching outfits (which I’m sure every little sister loves).

The grand finale is on Good Friday, when the parades start at 1 or 2 in the morning. Though I didn’t get up to see it, I could hear the drums from the comfort of my bed. I travelled to Seville for the evening of Good Friday without realizing that it has the biggest celebrations in all of Spain. The set up was markedly more elaborate than the other cities. I have to admit that I skipped seeing the parades again, though I did get to see some TV coverage from the bus station.

As a person not used to this tradition, it was a bit strange to see the hooded figures milling around town after the parades were over.

I’m finishing this blog from Lisbon, where I await the arrival of RobO!