Semana Santa (Holy Week)
Friday, March 21st, 2008Following from my last post on the last fiesta which was DIA DE ANDALUCIA, or Andalicia Day we are now well into Semana Santa, or Holy Week - Easter week to those not in Spanish speaking countries.
Here in southern Spain and especially along the Costa del Sol, each town or village has its own holy processions held on a daily basis, from Palm Sunday until Easter Sunday usually in the late afternoon or evening.
The processions are based around the huge effigy of the Holy Virgin and other religious scenes which are paraded through the streets atop heavy floats which are carried by men from the village or town. It usually takes around 100 or so men to carry the virgin and it is a carefully and well practiced event. These men who carry the weight of the wooden floats are called “costaleros”. They are expected the carry these “thrones” with great solemnity and grace. They each use a small cushion, called a “costal” to protect themselves from the wood rubbing against their skin during these long processions
Unfortunately, this week has seen some bad weather across the whole of the Iberian peninsula and more unusually on the Costa del Sol which has put a stop to the processions, as it is dangerous to even attempt to carry the virgin through the streets in the pouring rain, never ming the damage that the rain would do to the effigy.
Today however, the sun is shining, so it is with great relief that the processions in my local area of Fuengirola/Los Boliches will take place later this afternoon unless the weather suddenly changes (fingers crossed).
For those who have never witnessed the Easter Processions in Spain, it is a spectacular sight and also quite disturbing, especially if you happen to be black. That’s because there are several groups of marchers and one of those groups is made up of men dressed in long white cloaks with pointed white hoods, similar to those worn by members of the racist Ku Klux Klan movement of the American south in years gone by (and not completely rid of).
Of course, this is not the case here in Spain, as these are meant to depict the Nazareños (people from Nazareth) and are portrayals of holy marches from Spain’s long and fascinating history. There are several different religious groups represented in the processions with different dress costumes. One of the better known groups is the Moors and Catholics depicting the ejection of the Moorish invaders from Spain by the holy armies.
I’m not getting into an religious debates here, but to my eyes, historically and right up to the present day, differing religious beliefs have been the cause of more wars and bloodshed than any other factor in the history of the human race. Nice.
Anyhow, back to the Costa del Sol and the processions. I shall be going to see the local processions later this afternoon all being well and will report back on how it went here.
Picture by G J Allen
