Semana Santa (Holy week) part I

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Doming de Ramos
Semana Santa is a huge deal in Spain. Every city celebrates it differently. It starts the Sunday before Easter, and goes until the following Sunday. There are processions, good food, and a ton of people. A lot of people leave for vacations, some stay, and a lot of tourists come during this time. If you ever plan on traveling during Semana Santa, book everything months in advance, because everything sells out, and the prices go through the roof. Semana Santa also usually corresponds with the first full moon of spring.
I started the first day of Semana Santa having breakfast outside overlooking the Alhambra in the Albizín. Then the church bells went off. With that, mass had ended and Semana Santa had officially began. People prepare for Semana Santa all year, so they are really excited when it starts. After having breakfast we walked around the Albizín a bit, then I headed home. On my way home I walked past one of the many cathedrals in Granada. Many people were carrying palm fronds. Now these weren’t the palm fronds that we get at church on Palm Sunday. These palm fronds were about 4 feet long. We’re talking a full branch of a palm tree. The nuns were also out in force. As I continued walking, I would see people pass by the cathedral doing the motions of the cross as the church bells were ringing. Everyone was dressed up, and the streets were packed (more so than normal). It was a beautiful day. It was about 70 degrees and not a cloud in the sky.
Later that afternoon I went with my host mom, Mother Teresa to have lunch with her family at their house in the Albeizín. The houses in the Albeizín are incredible. They’re called Carmenes. On the outside they look very plane and have small windows and doors. That’s because this is the Arab part of town, and they wanted to keep their privacy from the Christians. But when you walk in, they’re mini palaces, with gardens, marble patios, and fountains. They’re just beautiful. Having dinner with their family is always fun. This is the second time I’ve gone to eat with my host family’s extended family. It reminds me of my family, because it’s large, and very loud. I walked in, always a little unsure, but I was showered with kisses, and pats on the back. And of course the initial how do you say your name? Man did they feed me well. From the moment I walked in it was take this, try that. There were all different kinds of meat… You should all be proud of me, I ate morcilla. Morcilla is blood sausage. I was really hesitant to try it, but I’m always nervous to turn things down, or say no thank you I don’t like it. This could be taken many ways, and you never ever want to offend the chef. I was also able to meet the mother of my host mom. A typical greeting in Spain is to give a kiss on both cheeks. We did this, and then she realized who I was. “¡Ay eres la Americana!” (OH you’re the American) and she gave me the biggest hug. It was just a great day. After we finished eating, had dissert and drinks, we headed home. On the way home I saw that Gran Vía had been completely shut down. Gran Vía is one of the main streets in Granada. It’s a huge street, but on this day it was filled with people. I could hardly move.
Teresa and I stopped to watch my first procession. The processions are really something else if you’ve never seen them before. There are several processions everyday from Sunday to Sunday. The first one usually starts at 4:00, and they go until about 3 AM. It’s incredible. Each cathedral has its own procession. The fist day of processions is called “Domingo de Ramos.” This is usually the happiest one, because it’s the day Jesus entered Jerusalem. Each procession has a band, a float, and los penitentes (the penitents).

**** This is important- be carful with the pictures that I put up for Semana Santa. Los penitentes look like the KKK. BUT it is 2010, I am in Spain, and these are religious processions. The penitents are paying for their sins, and the costumes existed long before the KKK****

That being said, it was an incredible sight. Even thought I know what los penitentes symbolize, it’s quite a shock to the system. I find them kind of scary. Throughout the processions, you can smell incense in the air, and the sounds of the bands playing. Then come the floats. These floats are centuries old, and are carried through the streets. Keep in mind that every flag poll, and float are solid silver and gold. They way a ton! But they are fantastic. The float of the Virgin Mary is really beautiful. In Granada the people carrying the floats are under the float. All you can see is their feet, but in some cities the people who carry them stand outside of the float.
The streets are also packed with people, you can’t move, or hardly see anything. Unlike parades in the US, no one is telling people to get out of the streets, or move back. People touch the floats as they go by. The crowd is part of the parade.

Lunes Santo
On the second day of Semana Santa, I was able to see my first full procession. It started off as a beautiful day, but started to rain in the middle of the procession of the Virgin Mary (kind of sacrilegious if you ask me). I went to these processions with my host sister Belén and her friend Elena. Belén is very tall so she was able to get me some nice pictures of the processions. The first procession that passed by was of Jesus carrying the cross. These floats are very detailed. This one in particular was made out of wood. The band came before the float and the lead coronet player stopped right in front us. The music is really neat. I would recommend watching it on youtube to really see how the processions are.
The second float to go by was the Virgin. This float has about 100-lit candles, and is solid silver and gold. It’s gorgeous! As I said earlier each procession has the penitents, and with the Virgin comes los Dolores, or la banda de la Virgin. They are women dressed in black, and are wearing veils. Everyone is carrying candles as well. Kids will run by to collect the wax to make into balls.
Later that night I went out for tapas with my friend Steve. After we had eaten we decided to head to the bar. On our way, we suddenly found ourselves in the middle of two processions. This was actually really cool. To give you a time frame for all of this, it was about 12:30. Once we realized what was going on, I was pushed right up to the float of “Huerto de los Olivos.” This one is solid gold, and has a live olive tree next to the arch angle and Jesus. I was afraid that I was going to step on the foot of one of the people carrying the float, and cause a major seen. The last thing I wanted to do was make them drop Jesus. We were on a narrow winding road, and we literally couldn’t move. To my immediate right was Jesus. In front, behind, and to my left were hundreds of people. The crowd was directly in front of the procession. The procession was pushing the crowd, and the crowd was pushing the procession.
We were on a street that I have been on many times, but because of how many people there were, I was having a hard time recognizing where the bar was. So I yelled back to Steve, “It’s the Guinness sign right?!?” To this Steve replied, “Yep, it’s like we’re following our own star of David.” This isn’t crucial information, but I found it funny. We finally made it to the bar, and finished watching the processions from there.

Martes Santo
I spent most of this day in the Albizín, and Plaza Nueva. Plaza Nueva is a plaza at the entryway to the Albizín, and is prime real estate for people watching. Since I’m on spring break, there isn’t much to do before the processions start, so Steve and I just people watched all day. On this particular day as we were walking by Plaza Nueva, we saw a dog eating something strange. As we got closer, we realized this dog was feasting on a full rack of ribs (uncooked). It was odd because Steve and I seemed to be the only ones disgusted by this. I’m not sure where his hippy got a full rack of ribs, and to be honest I don’t really want to know. With that we left Plaza Nueva for some ice cream.
After walking around and burning time for a bit, we found the first procession. We had pretty good spots for this one. We were right next to the penitents, but it took the procession a while to get to us. These processions are very slow moving (unless it’s raining). An hour can pass and you’ll still have the same penitent standing beside you, but if you have no place to go, and someone to chat with, it’s a great way to spend an afternoon. The paces of the processions themselves are quite impactful as well. The people carrying the floats are moving at such a slow pace that they just sway. These processions can make a believer out of anyone. Faith is key here.

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Photos

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An idea of how many people there are

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First penitent

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I think that cross ways a minimum of 100 pounds

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First float

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Virgin Mary

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Virgin Mary at night

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Can't move

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Huerto de los Olivos

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Feet of the people carry the float

Comments

[mom and dad]

We feel like we are right there with you! Wonderful discriptions.