Pascua.

Pascua.

Easter. 

You may, or may not, have heard of the famous Semana Santa (Easter week) processions  in Southern Spain, particularly Seville.  Suffice to say when Spain does fiesta, it spares no expense. 

Churches have their own Hermandads (Brotherhoods of priests and monks). During Easter week in Sevilla, these groups of Nazarenos (the name for the garbed individuals) walk through the streets carrying large wooden floats, dressed in traditional garb bearing the emblem and colour of their Hernamdad. The floats are tremendously heavy, and bear carved statues of Biblical characters in order to depict the events surrounding Jesus' Crucifixion. They are carried by several individuals; some floats have handles to support them but others are carried by head,under the float itself. They practice carrying the float using wooden planks, usually at night to the surprise of many who stumble upon them. A lot of the floats are hundreds of years old, basically relics, so if it rains, the procession is a no-go. Some processions are accompanied by marching bands,some are silent, but all are enveloped by clouds of incense. They carry on through the night into the early morning, and often seating is laid out (but not free) for the occasion. I haven't experienced Semana Santa in Sevilla but knowing people who recently have, it sounds crazy. To quote: 'the processions got old really quickly'. Half the streets were blocked off with crowds, and with about 10 processions per day making their way to the cathedral, it was pretty chaotic. Some older, and clearly devout, women even blocked them from crossing the procession even when it was stopped. 

Up in the North, León is probably the only city can come close to the grandeur of Sevilla; but as I've discovered here in Asturias many smaller towns have their own processions. Gijón had a procession every day from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday, bar one day, but one of my teachers told me today that they've only been doing the processions for about five years. Still, it was an impressive sight! 

 

And don't say they look like that ridiculous American Racist group, please....