twelve o'clock at
night
At the head of the company floated the Roman banner with its senatorial inscription . The procession marched with traditional slowness , stopping whole hours at the crossways . They did not value time . It was twelve o'clock at night and the Macarena would not return to her abode until twelve on the following morning , taking more time to travel about the city than is needed to go from Seville to Madrid . First came the _ paso _ of the `` Sentence of Our Lord Jesus Christ , '' a float filled with figures representing Pilate seated on a golden throne surrounded by soldiers in colored skirts and plumed helmets , watching the sad Jesus soon to march to the place of execution in a tunic of brown velvet covered with embroideries , and three golden plumes that signified rays of divinity above his crown of thorns . This _ paso _ proceeded without attracting attention , as if humbled by the proximity of the one that came after , the Queen of the popular wards , the miraculous Virgin of Hope , the Macarena . When the Virgin with the rosy cheeks and long lashes left San Gil beneath a trembling canopy of velvet , bowing with the movement of the hidden bearers , a deafening acclamation arose from the multitude that surged through the small plaza .