Monday, April 23, 2012

Hola todos!!!

Today I'm going to talk about Semana Santa in Spain! Just for a little lesson! So sit back and enjoy...

Semana Santa is the week before Easter and is celebrated heavily in Spain, and in other countries as well, so I was very excited to be able to experience this part of the culture while being here in Spain. I was able to go to a procession (it's like a parade) and luckily it wasn't cancelled! No rain this time!

There are some terms you may need to learn before you see pictures, so you aren't surprised like most people when they first see what some of the people are wearing.

During the procession there are usually two floats, one carrying Jesus Christ and one carrying Mary. The one that I went to had one float and it had both Jesus and Mary. Mary was holding Jesus.
Underneath the float are men carrying it on their shoulders, at least 30 people, and they can carry it for the whole procession which can be many miles. They have to practice a lot!

Las cofradias are the religious brotherhoods, each organizing their own procession. Some of the brothers wear Nazarenos/Penitentes which come as shock to most Americans, since their clothing (called 'Capirote') resembles the Ku Klux Klan. 
They wear these to show their sacrifice and to rid of their sins, no one knows who is underneath. 
The women show their sacrifices by wearing high heels the whole procession or going bare footed. Their dress is called a mantilla. 
 It was very nice to be able to experience this side of the culture of Spain and I hope you enjoy my video log which gives a lot more insight as to what happens during the procession!


  1. fascinating!!!. is spain still very religious? like do you encounter a lot of catholicism there?

    1. No, they aren't at all! Just like one person has told me they are religious