Throughout Spain, the week leading up to Easter Sunday, known as Semana Santa or Holy Week, is observed in ways both joyous and solemn. Each afternoon and evening from Palm Sunday through Easter Sunday, thousands of Spaniards and visitors gather in city streets and town squares to celebrate a Catholic tradition that dates back at least to the 15th century—to the reign of the Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand. The Catholic monarchs, as they are called, told the story of Christ’s resurrection to a largely illiterate population in a way that has endured for centuries, through processions. Here’s our experience:
We arrived in Madrid for the first time on a Maundy Thursday– the Thursday before Easter commemorates Christ’s Last Supper and is one of the Catholic Church’s holiest days. Though it was after 9 p.m., we were confident we’d find plenty of dinner options in a city known for dining late. Instead, we found one restaurant after another closed. Finally, at the Bar Santa Clara, the proprietor explained most places were closed not due to the hour, but to the day, pointing out it was Holy Week and that in Madrid people take Easter very seriously. He told us we could have “anything on toast” but that was all they were serving that evening. We ordered everything available–cheese, tomatoes, anchovies, and ham—all on toast.
We returned to our apartment behind the Prado Museum close to midnight and were getting ready for bed when our son excitedly announced, “I hear a parade!” We followed the pounding of drums and the heady scent of incense down the street towards San Jeronimo—the church favored by Spain’s Royal Family. Sure enough, a candlelit procession appeared out of the dark. First, we saw columns of marchers in various colored robes, faces covered, wearing tall, pointed hats. It was unsettling. Next, seemingly swaying to the music and moving ever so slowly, came an enormous float we learned was called a paso, featuring a life-sized Christ figure. Beneath it, we could see the strained faces of the men who somberly carried it on their shoulders. We watched until the entire procession passed into the church.
We didn’t understand the scale of Holy Week celebrations in Spain, or their importance, until the next evening when we found ourselves caught up in enormous crowds between four different processions around Plaza Mayor, as we tried unsuccessfully to get to dinner on time. This, we began to understand, was how they celebrate Semana Santa. We joined in the celebrations.
Fast forward a few years and we are in Sevilla. Preparations are well underway for Semana Santa though the festivities won’t begin for another week. Colorful banners are hung from balconies lining the procession routes that crisscross the city. Barricades are erected, and chairs and bleachers are set up in key locations for those privileged few with tickets. The rest of us will crowd the streets and sidewalks waiting and watching for the story of the Passion of the Christ to unfold as it has for 500 years or more.
Meanwhile, cofradias (also called hermandades) or brotherhoods, are busy in parishes everywhere, painstakingly assembling the lavish pasos. These floats are beautiful works of art featuring biblical scenes that tell the story of Christ’s Passion, Death and Resurrection from the New Testament. They hold life-sized statues often handcrafted from wood and can include precious metals. They are laden with candles, fresh flowers, and icons. The most beautiful of these hold a single statue—the Madonna or Senora Dolarosa, the grieving mother of Christ. She is enrobed in an elaborate cape, often hand- embroidered with gold and silver thread, wearing gleaming jewels and surrounded by candles and flowers.
While the pasos are being readied, you can visit them in their parishes. We spent days wandering from church to church in several cities to see these magnificent pasos up close, admiring the detail and careful handiwork of the cofradias. We had the chance to chat with one gentleman, Jamie, who is not only a member of the brotherhood at the Iglesia de Santa Maria Magdalene in Sevilla, but also one of the bearers, called costaleros, who carry the massive pasos for up to six hours through Sevilla’s cobbled streets. He told us some pasos can weigh 5,000 pounds and take between 35 to 45 men to carry. Only women carry the paso of the Holy Mother in some parishes, as we saw in several processions in Salamanca last Easter.
Shortly before a procession begins, the sidewalks and streets swell with families who seem to appear from nowhere and a carnival-like atmosphere prevails. There are street vendors selling sweets and snacks, drinks, balloons, tiny penitent figures and other souvenirs. Soon, the incense smoke thickens, music starts, and the excitement in the air is palpable. Fathers hoist their young children onto their shoulders, and everyone crowds closer and often right into the street where the procession will pass. Some processions have only drummers; most have full marching bands, and sometimes there is singing. Depending on the size and importance of a brotherhood, parish, and the day in Holy Week, there can be numerous pasos in a single procession.
Embroidered banners announce the cofradias; a priest with a silver cross leads children carrying incense or lanterns. Nazarenos in their colored robes, faces covered by capuz or hoods, and hats called capirote pointing high to the heavens, follow. These are the penitents. There are also Mujeres de la Mantilla, ladies dressed all in black from their lacey veils to their shoes, silently processing, carrying candles and rosary beads. Everywhere in Spain, men, women and children march slowly through the streets during Semana Santa’s processions, each with a role to play in this ancient ritual.
It is magical and emotional to be a part of this. Many people cry silently with tears streaming down their faces, some sob violently, others cheer and clap, or watch quietly as the exquisite pasos go by, but you will not see a blank expression. These processions touch people at the most visceral level. Finally, the pasos will re-enter the church they left from hours before and the streets empty almost as quickly as they filled.
Every city we visited during this sacred time of year has procession routes and schedules available online and/or in print. Look for the booklets in cafes, shops and bars. This is valuable information for visitors to either find or avoid the processions. Be aware of street closures. Whole areas of a city may be closed to traffic and even passing on foot is extremely difficult, especially during the most important processions—like on Good Friday. Sevilla, Toledo, Malaga and other cities have Semana Santa apps, updated annually, you can download on your iPhone.
We have been fortunate to celebrate Semana Santa and Easter Sunday in Madrid, Barcelona, Sevilla, Granada, Toledo, and Salamanca. Each city offered a unique and beautiful experience. No matter which region you visit, Semana Santa is an incredible time to be in Spain. It’s not too soon to begin planning for next year!