Semana Santa 2014

Today, Easter Sunday, marks the end of Semana Santa, or Holy Week, in Spain and around the world.  Here are a few pics, and a video of one of the processions I attended during Holy Week.  Every town holds processions every night of the week, except for Holy Saturday.

The population of Spain is 99 percent Catholic, and regardless of your religious affiliation, or lack thereof, watching a Semana Santa procession is an experience you will likely never forget.

The "hooded" people pictured above and below are members of one of many "brotherhood" organizations (these include women as well) that represent different churches in the area. These brotherhood organizations are associations of Catholic laypersons who perform public acts of religious observance.  During Holy Week, the observances are related to the Passion and death of Jesus Christ and to performing public penance.  The hoods signify mourning--their faces are covered as a sign of shame for sins committed throughout the year.

As you will see in the video below, massive floats depicting Jesus' death on the cross or the Virgin Mary are carried through the streets, and in many cases, the floats of the Virgin Mary are carried solely by women.  Carved of wood and adorned with statues, candles and flowers, the floats are imposing and extremely heavy.  Carriers are traded out along the route so the procession can continue, often lasting for 5 or 6 hours.  You can see how carefully they must navigate turns on very narrow, cobbled streets, and what a painstakingly slow process it is to move the float and all of its carriers at the same time. 

A marching band always follows the floats, and in most processions there are three floats, usually separated by several city blocks, and several hundred members of the brotherhood in between.  So, a procession with three floats would have 3 bands. 

When the procession stops so the carriers can rest, children run out to the people of the brotherhood to have them drip wax on balls which they bring to the processions year after year.  Over many years, the wax builds up and the ball gets larger and larger.  

When Semana Santa is over, the streets are covered in wax drippings and special crews are brought in with street cleaners that use very hot water to remove the wax.  The procession atmosphere is one of solemnity and reverence mixed with street fair and parade.  Family members along the route try to spot loved ones in the procession, picking them out from all the other hooded participants. 

Watching a Semana Santa procession is an experience you won't likely forget...though more intense and unexpected the first time, the second year was more meaningful because the shock and awe had worn off.  Looking forward to seeing what next year holds!