Felices Pascuas!

Happy Easter! It was very strange being away from home on a holiday, especially Easter.  Usually I spend Easter with my family, starting the day with mass, then eating great food, and opening Easter Bunny Baskets.  Throughout the day I would glance at the time and figure out what my family was doing, which was easy since we have done more or less the same thing since I can remember.  Don’t worry; I did not do this all day, just every now and then.  However, Spain has its own traditions that I was lucky enough to experience.  The celebrations of Semana Santa (Holy Week) were so interesting and made being away from family and friends a little easier. 

The people of Andalucía like to say that during Semana Santa everybody who lives in the region leaves, and the rest of the Spanish citizens arrive.  Holy Week and Easter celebrations here are not confined to churches and backyards as they are in the United States.  Because the country is so predominately Catholic, traditions here have developed into spectacles that people from around the world come to see.  The most unique tradition is the processions.  The best way to describe the processions is as religious parades.  The biggest and smallest streets of the city are filled with people watching the processions make their way from church to church. 

Each procession is different, but they all consist of tronos (most comparable to floats), Nazarenos and some sort of music.  The tronos are huge, and are not transported by trucks, but carried by people underneath them concealed by fabric.  Each person can be supporting up to 100 pounds depending on the size of the float, and the longest procession is about twelve hours long.  Therefore, every now and then the procession stops and the people switch out for a break.  Usually this break happens in a church, but  we saw them stop a couple of times on the street and got a chance to watch people run under to replace other people running out.  “Los Nazarenos” or the penitents accompany each trono.   Each Nazareno is part of a brotherhood, some dating back to the 1500s.  They are very recognizable because of their outfits.  The Nazarenos wear long robes, and their head and faces are covered by a cone shaped hat draped in fabric.  The robes of each brotherhood are different colors, but the individual people are never identifiable in order to keep the focus of the procession on the religious aspect.  Unfortunately, many American tourists are offended by this outfit, considering its similarity to the Ku Klux Klan.  It is so sad to me that something so honorable and beautiful in one country has been turned into something so horrible and offensive in another. 

My friends and I were able to see five processions throughout the week.  We had planned on attending many more, but because of rain many were cancelled.  The tronos are very delicate and valuable, and therefore are not brought out if it is raining.  One trono supports a statue of the Virgin Mary crying diamonds and wearing a veil sewn with gold thread.  Each year the tronos are elaborated upon, so they only grow in intricacy and become worth more and more throughout the years.  The first procession we happened upon accidently on Wednesday.  It displayed Jesus in a seated position, waiting to be crucified.  The Nazarenos wore maroon and white robes.  I was surprised to see a marching band accompanying the procession.  The music they played was somber, but filled the whole area.  There was also far more people than I ever expected.  However, everybody was friendly and all were respectful of the processions.  

The next procession we attended was the most popular of the week, and the probably the one Granada is best known for.  The Gitanos (gypsy) procession took place mainly in the old section of town.  It started around 8:00 P.M. on Wednesday, and ended at 7:00 A.M. the following morning.  The amount of people there was absolutely amazing.  My friends and I made our way to Sacromonte around midnight, but the procession did not come until almost three.  One of the tronos displayed Jesus on the cross, the next showed Mary surrounded by candles and crying.  They both were beautiful.  Once the procession comes everybody goes with it.  We walked right behind the first trono.  Along the route the procession would stop, and sometimes somebody in the audience felt moved to sing a hymn; sometimes an acoustic guitar would accompany the song, and other times it wouldn’t.  As beautiful as the marching bands were, the songs sung by the spectators were so much more.  They were filled with emotion, and I was amazed by the fact that every one of the thousands of spectators stopped talking to listen with the utmost respect.  After walking with the procession for almost three hours, we went off to the side and let the procession pass.  At 6 in the morning, we finally went back to our houses to sleep for a few hours before the next procession began. 

Thursday only one procession left the church.  Thankfully the rain stopped long enough for the last procession to make its way from Plaza Nueva at the base of the Albaicin, to the Cathedral in the center of the city.  This procession is probably the second most popular behind the Gitano procession.  It is known as the Procession of Silence.  It is the only one not followed by a marching band.  The only sounds heard during the procession are a single drum, the chains worn by a few of the Nazarenos, and some whispers from the crowd of spectators.  To add to the seriousness of the procession, every light along the route is turned off.  It was absolutely amazing.  Although the Gitano procession was beautiful, it did not feel as religious as the Thursday night procession.  The trono also showed Jesus on the cross, and was similar to the one from the night before.  When the procession stopped in front of us, a man sang a hymn from his balcony.  Every person listened, and it was impossible to ignore the emotion of the man’s song and the procession.  It was absolutely my favorite moment of the week. 

The next two days were pretty disappointing procession wise.  Because of weather, almost every procession was cancelled.  It is a huge deal when they cancel processions.  It was not unusual to walk by people crying shortly after the procession had been official cancelled.  One went out on Friday, but I did not attend because I went to mass instead. I was surprised by the fact that it is the exact same mass I would have attended in America, but in Spanish.  For some reason I expected it to be different.  I was also surprised by how few people were there.  The church was nowhere near full.  Considering the hundreds of people who attend the processions, I expected many more to be at the mass. 

Sunday finally brought blue skies and sun, which meant the processions were on.  The first procession left from the Cathedral, and the Nazarenos wore white and blue.  The trono showed a risen Jesus, and even had a live tree on it.  The music played by the band was much happier, and the attitude and feeling amongst the spectators was very light and joyful.  It was a great atmosphere, and a fun procession.  The second procession of the day was the one for the children.  A smaller trono supported by children is carried through the street.  Then, anyone who wishes to participate can pick up a ceramic bell and go with the procession.  It is mostly young children who ring the bells, announcing to the city of Granada the resurrection.  Although it was fun, it was very chaotic, and more for the children taking part than spectators.  Unfortunately the weather did not hold out and the final procession of Semana Santa was cancelled.  I can’t be disappointed though.  I have studied Semana Santa every year in Spanish classes, and I am happy that I even got the opportunity to experience some of it.  Besides, now I just have another excuse to come back in the future: I have to see the rest of the processions.