Semana Santa

Semana Santa is Holy Week here in Spain. It begins on Palm Sunday and ends on Easter Sunday. Seemingly every Spanish city, large and small, celebrates all week with parades called processions. The processions are a little different each day of the week.

Religious fraternities and brotherhoods called Cofradías process in penitence through the streets of the city. I understand these folks have the responsibility of maintaining the statues as well as coordinating the penitents and musicians. Some carry candles, rods or banners depending on their level of seniority. The most senior is the president who carries a golden rod.

Each procession usually has two floats, one of the Virgin Mary and the other depicting a scene from the last days in the life of Christ. It takes a lot of people to carry these incredibly ornate floats. There are up to forty men, called costaleros, who haul one float on their shoulders and they are directed by an overseer who ensures that the float is carried with maximum seriousness, grace and tradition.

Some of the procession participants walk barefoot, which I can hardly imagine, as some of these events can last as long as 12-14 hours. My feet ache just thinking about it! Many participants are hooded in order to protect the anonymity of the sinners seeking forgiveness. The pointy hoods and long robes reminded us of the Ku Klux Klan, however, we are told the two groups are completely unrelated.

We saw two processions during Semana Santa, one here in Rota, and the other in Sevilla. I'll share some photos from each event with you...

Street vendors sold balloons, trinkets and candies to the crowds.

The procession begins in Rota.

See the wax dripping from this huge candle? The streets are later coated with the stuff, so afterward it's pretty easy to tell which route the procession took.

Candles are quite the fascination for youngsters in the crowd as they collect the dripping wax to see who can form the largest ball of wax.



These women process all dressed in mourning.

How would you like walking in those pumps? I can't decide which would be more uncomfortable... walking in pumps or walking barefoot. Glad I didn't have to make that choice.

Even children participate in the processions.

We were unable to get a good photo of this float due to the crowding of people around us. It appeared to be Mary holding Jesus after the crucifixion.

The remaining photos were taken during Sevilla's procession on Saturday, the day before Easter...



The guys in the white tank tops are evidently taking a break from carrying one of the floats, thus the cell phone and cigarette. I found it hard to believe that they would simply walk right through the middle of the procession though. We saw lots of that all day long. It's very different from most parades I've ever seen, where people are prevented from crossing parade lines.

This float depicts Jesus carrying the cross.

This is a little closer view of the same float.

Every parade needs a little music, right?

This float shows Jesus hanging on the cross.

Pretty realistic, isn't it?

Another different view of the same float. Every angle has a unique view. This one shows Mary mourning Jesus' death.

The boys got a little bored during the processions as they're very slow, difficult to see, and let's face it, probably not that exciting for kids. We allowed them to go to the card store and purchase some Yu-Gi-Oh cards and they were happy campers. Would you call that bribery? Yeah, it was, but it worked and we were all able to enjoy the rest of our time in Sevilla.

This float depicts Mary holding Jesus after the crucifixion. This one was particularly moving to me.

Look at the detail!

The Virgin Mary

I have so many more photos, but these do a decent job of capturing the essence of Semana Santa. We truly enjoyed ourselves. If you ever have the opportunity to visit Spain during Holy Week, take in at least one of the processions. What a wonderfully rich cultural experience!