Celebrating Holy Week in Andalucia

History, culture and a different form of religious devotion take on the principal role in the Holy Week celebrations in Spain, and most elaborately in Andalucía. Multitudes fill the streets to pay homage to their favorite images of the Virgin Mary or Jesus Christ, and to feel that certain spiritual energy that religious images paraded throughout their city or village neighborhoods often generate. Different “brotherhoods” take pride in the history, sometimes centuries old, of their particular scene of Christ’s Passion that their “throne” represents, and in the sorrow and purity that their “Virgin Maria’s” face portrays.
The emergence of this Holy Week processional tradition dates as far back

as the 12th and 13th centuries, appearing first in Italy and soon after in Spain. They began as a public showing of devotion to the crucified Christ, and penance for one's sins. These less ostentatious processions made up initially of men flogging themselves and small groups carrying rudimentary wooden crosses, quickly acquired great importance in those dark times. The penitents believed that they gained merit in the eyes of God so that He would not send the plague or other prevalent evils of the period on their families as punishment for their sins. Today they believe they are fulfilling their promise to participate in this annual ritual in exchange for prayers answered or to be answered. With the arrival of the Baroque period and greater affluence, the social importance and opulence of these processions augmented, developing into an event similar to what takes place today.
The current traditional garb, full of symbolism, was established during this period of the 17th century. The tunic, cinched at the waist with a rope, imitates Christ's vestments during his ascent to Calgary. The antifaz, or mask, covers the penitent's face and upper torso in shame for his sins. The capirote, or the cone-like hood holds the mask in place, and according to one source, represents drawing nearer to God, like the church steeples of the same shape. The many colors of vestments seen in the processions throughout Andalucia are symbolic of the related religious orders and other origins of the Brotherhoods. One can easily speculate as to the reason behind the American's Ku Klux Klan's adoption of these vestments for their own.

Today’s processions include the principal throne which depicts a scene from Christ’s Passion through artistically sculpted human like figures placed on a carpet of hundreds of flowers which cover the intricately carved base of polished or gilded wood or silver. They are accompanied at the end of the procession by a throne of the mourning Virgin Mary. The “virgin’s” vary in size and elegance, but they all don a manto or cloak usually made of velvet and embroidered in gold and silver to the end of it’s majestic length, which can vary from two to six meters. The thrones take up to 250 Hombres de Trono, men who carry them on their shoulders, to parade them throughout the city for 4 to 8 hours from sunset until the wee hours of the morning.

The procession is completed by its contingent of Nazarenos or Penitentes (Nazareans or Penitents) accompanying the thrones on their annual pilgrimage among the faithful. Anywhere from 200 to 750 of the up to 5000 Brothers of each brotherhood (please do not call them members) pay their annual dues and event fee for the right to don a velvet tunic in Brotherhood's colors that range from black and/or white to green, burgundy, blue or purple the liturgical color of mourning. They usually are composed of a 50/50 mix of men and women covered from head to toe in this Ku Klux Klan looking garb, forming a somewhat disconcerting army. And each throne is accompanied by it’s own musical bands, altar boys wafting incense along the route, brotherhood officials bearing their identifying banners, and a group of faithful followers sometimes barefoot, sometimes blindfolded, no doubt fulfilling one of their promises in exchange for answered prayers. It can take over an hour for the entire contingent to pass by.

These processions inspire abundant spontaneous applause, a clamoring of piropos, (old-fashioned prose-style compliments) and heart-felt saetas (Flamenco style songs, performed solo, as reverence to the Christ and Virgin images) from their passionate multitude of followers lining the streets throughout its several hour route. Malaga boasts 38 Brotherhoods, Seville - 42, and they exist from the other large cities to the tiniest pueblos all over Andalucía just to exemplify the cultural and religious importance of the Holy Week celebrations that Spain immerses itself in year after year.