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Published: April 25th 2011
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Semana Santa: All Fiesta No Siesta During Spain’s Holy Week
Spring has sprung, and to Americans that means polishing off those chocolate bunnies and searching for brightly colored eggs. Here in Spain however, Easter week is one of the biggest and most esteemed holidays of the year, and definitely worth checking out. Instead of massive candy sales and feeling obligated to go to church, you’ll find something far more stately, spiritual, and dare I say it, cultural?
Semana Santa, or Holy Week, starts on Palm Sunday and ends on Easter Sunday. During this period, Spaniards and tourists alike come out in throngs to watch religious processions take place. On each night of the week, different
hermandads (brotherhoods or parishes) take their
pasos (floats) with enormous figures of Christ on the Cross, the Virgin Mary, and other Saints on a march through the town. Each float is meant to depict individual scenes from Jesus’ life to his resurrection and are heavily adorned with flowers and candles. This tradition originated in the 16th century when the Church decided to represent the story of Christ in a way illiterate commoners could understand.
One of the most interesting aspects of the procession
is that the floats are actually carried on the shoulders of
costaleros, men and women who consider it a great honor to march beneath the pasos. And let it be said that this is no small task. Many of the floats can weigh anywhere between 500-2,000 pounds (aka a ton), requiring dozens of bearers. Some go even further by walking barefoot or dragging chains behind them. Painful yes, but to them it is an honorable penance.
Also startling is the garb worn by participants, which in the eyes of an American tourist looks more like something out of a Ku Klux Klan meeting than a religious festival. These
Nazareños, meant to depict the people of Nazareth, follow the individuals who carry the floats and hold candles. Each parish has it’s own colored robes and hoods, ranging from all black to green and purple. Here at least, some Easter color breaks up the solemnity of the procession. However, the fact that the pointed hoods are an innocent pastel blue do not make the outfits any less disconcerting to the unaccustomed eye. It takes some getting used to.
Each parish additionally has a musical accompaniment whose drums beat the rhythm
of the march. The drummers tend to be younger, usually teenagers, and stroll along in front while the the
costaleros step to the beat, transforming the floats above them into swaying shrines. They then miraculously navigate from the main plaza through cramped streets, expertly avoiding hanging signs and lampposts, and finally end at the town’s Cathedral.
To Spaniards, this is a huge event. People line the narrow streets well in advance to get prime viewing of the floats. Those lucky enough to have apartments with balconies get to observe from the comfort of their homes. For tourists, the parade can be somewhat bewildering but also fascinating. Cameras and video recorders are a must.
So if you thought getting an Easter basket from your mom once a year was cool, don’t miss Semana Santa in Spain in 2012. The most popular cities for processions are in Sevilla, Valladodid, Segovia, and Salamanca.
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