Santa Semana (Holy Week) - Maundy Thursday

The memory of the two processions we experienced will remain with me forever.

During Holy Week, processions take place all over Spain in towns and cities, starting with the Domingo de Ramos (Palm Sunday) and ending Easter Monday - Lunes de Pascua. Michael and I were totally unprepared for the emotions these processions evoked in us and the incredibly vast number of people who converged on the streets to watch and follow.

Thursday evening:
The highlight was when the two floats emerged from the huge church doors, each carried on the shoulders of 40+ men "costaleros". The first float carried the image of Christ, beaten and blooded (on a bed of hundreds of purple iris heads) followed a while later by the Virgin Mary (surrounded by white flowers and towering candles). It was nothing short of a feat of precision engineering that these men moved forward slowly, then, inch by inch, turned a full 90 degrees, negotiating the massive crowds, into the street. The procession was accompanied by the slow rhythmic beating of drums and the swaying walk of the costaleros and followed by people dressed in hooded tunics "nazarenos" and women dressed in black wearing the traditional mantilla headdress. There was the poignant wailing of the "saeta" - a sacred lament delivered to Christ then to Mary, by a man or woman from a balcony above, as the procession halted at various points along the route. There were other pauses in the procession which I would imagine were simply to enable the costaleros a brief respite. The entire procession, from leaving to re-entering the church took around 6 hours - the sheer strength and commitment of those men carrying such a load for so long is profoundly moving in itself! We followed the procession for some while then, as darkness fell, sought out a view point to watch the procession, by then candle-lit, move slowly towards us - still the same slow, swaying walk, the mournful sound of the drums. Even for those who are not religious, it would be difficult not to be moved in such a poignant atmosphere.

We finally pulled ourselves away, feeling intensely emotional, reflective and deep in thought after such a shared experience - and to look forward to the following morning ....