All week is Semana Santa in Spain, and Granada is a city that is well known for its processions, and therefore, it has been VERY busy here! There are so many people in the streets… and it seems every time I go out toward the cathedral, there are processions blocking my way. :)
The processions are beautiful and each one is organized by a special brotherhood, not the church. The brotherhoods usually put in money each year to make their images and processions more beautiful. Each brotherhood has 2 images, one of Christ and one of the Virgin.
You’ll have to check out some of my pictures…they don’t turn out great at night, but it’s hard to explain how beautiful these images are. The are on large platforms covered in flowers, candles, the image, and Mary is always under a large canopy. As you can probably imagine, they are VERY heavy for the 40 men underneath that carry them!
The platforms are guided by someone on the outside that rings a bell, and the men underneath can tell which direction they need to go. The Virgin is very fun to watch, because they usually move her in a special way so that it looks like she is walking or dancing.
The procession begins with a “cruz guia”, a guide at the beginning that comes with a cross. “Nazarenos” follow the guide with candles, and have tall pointy hats and are different colors depending on the brotherhood. Women with “peinetas” (combs) and “mantillas” (veils) follow after the floats with candles as well, and there are bands that follow after the floats as well.
The processions go fairly slow (I couldn’t get back to my house for at least an hour last night!), but they are always on time, or else they are fined by the city. They all need to go from their brotherhoods to the cathedral and back.
The one we were very excited to see on Wednesday night was the “Confradía del Santísimo Cristo del Consuelo y María Santísima del Sacromonte”. This is the procession of the gypsies that live on the mountain of Sacromonte, and is a favorite of many people.
Since they live so far up the mountain, they leave with their floats at 2 in the afternoon, go to the cathedral, and don’t make their way back to the top until almost 4 in the morning. We went to watch them on their way back up the mountain, and it was absolutely astounding how many people were packed into the tiny streets to watch the procession. It is very beautiful on the way back up the mountain, because they light fires on the street as they go, and there is a lot of extra singing and dancing. We managed to find a great spot on top of a roof to watch the procession go by…it was so beautiful.
I’ve been able to see quite a few processions in the few days I’ve been back, and I’m sure I will continue to see many more this weekend. I’ve heard there is a really beautiful one tonight and another tomorrow, and on Sunday there is a procession that only children are in. José says it is “muy precioso”. :)
Hopefully some of my videos and pictures turn out, because I’d love to share this beautiful way of celebrating Easter with all of you! I’d better stop these super long blog posts…if you are reading this, thanks for sticking with me! Love and miss you all…
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