Semana Santa Part 1: Sevilla

I survived Semana Santa!

That’s not to say that I was in any real danger over the last week or so, but getting through Semana Santa in Seville, as well as through my four-cities-in-six-days solo trip to the north of Spain, was no easy task. But everything went smoothly, and I had a very nice time. (It’s hard not to have fun when you get a week off from classes, haha.)

So, for any non-Spanish-speakers, “Semana Santa” means “Holy Week”. Starting with Palm Sunday, the last week of Lent leading up to Easter Sunday is a pretty big deal here in Spain, but especially in Sevilla. The Semana Santa festivities are known throughout the country as being especially elaborate and very popular. Even if you aren’t religious, the celebrations are incredibly impressive and impossible to ignore. The city essentially shuts down completely, and especially if you live near the city center (like I do), it’s not uncommon to turn the corner and find a huge event going on. (That is, if you didn’t already hear it going on from several blocks away.)

So what’s the deal? How does this all work? Well, Catholic churches have hermandades (“brotherhoods”), which are like religious organizations/clubs that people can join. Hermandades have existed since medieval times, but whereas in the past they were peacekeeping, even military-like organizations, now they’re more of a religious/social organization. These groups are most visible in their relationship to Semana Santa, and the 55 or so hermandades in Sevilla take care of over 115 pasos (floats) that carry imagenes (religious icons) of Jesus, the Virgin Mary, the Saints, etc. The icons are cared for all year long and then during Semana Santa they’re carried through the streets in grand parades/processions.

Went to a Palm Sunday mass at the church near my house!

The processions are organized/managed by the city, which sets very specific schedules and provides other kinds of preparation and assistance, including police officers, barricades, blocking off streets and public transportation, etc. Each day of Semana Santa, there are several pasos that leave their home church, march through the city, go through the Cathedral, and then make their way back to their home church. Because the processions move slowly and the routes can be long, this takes several hours. (I’ve heard the longest one takes 13 hours!) The pasos primarily take place in the afternoon, though on some days there are ones in the morning, and there are even ones very late at night.

I went with a few of my American friends to get a taste of Semana Santa on Domingo de Ramos (Palm Sunday), as well as Lunes Santo (Holy Monday). On Sunday, we joined up my friend’s intercambio and some of her intercambio’s other Spanish friends. This was a great time, as we were able to see a lot more, since they know the schedule and the layout of the city way better than we do, and we also got to ask questions and get more of the “inside scoop”. I also think they enjoyed hearing our perspective on everything. For example, they asked if there is any American holiday that is celebrated in a way similar to Semana santa. We answered that, given the scale and the kind of celebrations, the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade might be similar, but that in general, Fourth of July celebrations are also comparable. (Everyone celebrates it, cities get shut down, there are parades and fun for people of all ages, etc.) However, there really is nothing quite like it.

So, the first thing to do is choose a procession to try and see, and then try to get there early so you can get a good spot. In some areas, like close to the Cathedral and the Ayuntamiento (City Hall), there are stadium-style seats that are set up weeks in advance. However, you have to pay (a lot) to get a seat like that. I think there’s even some kind of system where the opportunity to even get seats has to be handed down from generation to generation. (I learned about this because apparently due to the current economic crisis in Spain, people are being forced to sell their Semana Santa seats because they’re worth so much money.)

With any procession, the first thing you see is the Cruz de Guía (the guiding cross) and the nazarenos. These are people that march in front of the pasos, and are members of the hermandades who have volunteered to do this. Often, it’s a kind of penitence, or even a kind of offering. (For example, people do it to show religious devotion because they have a loved one who is sick and they’re asking God for help, so they volunteer to be a nazareno.) Depending on the size of the hermandad, there can be a TON of nazarenos (I think the highest number has been around 2,000!). Some carry small crosses or rosaries, candles, and some even hand out candy to kids that are in the crowds watching them pass by. There are also penitentes, who carry large, wooden crosses over their shoulders and sometimes even go barefoot, also as a sign of religious devotion. (Remember, they have to walk for several hours like this!)

It needs to be noted that the “uniform” of the nazarenos is a bit surprising to many Americans at first. The nazarenos wear long robes and capirotes: pointed caps, along with hoods that cover their faces, except where there are slits for their eyes. While there are different colors worn by different hermandades, many of the capirotes are white, which to Americans evokes the image of the Ku Klux Klan. However, the capirotes worn by nazarenos predate the KKK by several centuries. In Spain, they are worn as a symbol of penitence, and to cover the faces of nazarenos so that they aren’t being “showy” about their sacrifices. In the case of the KKK, starting in the 19th century, the robes and hoods were worn because they were intimidating, and allowed members to remain anonymous so as not to have to face the consequences that come with being part of a terrorist organization. I have to admit that, especially because I grew up in the South and am very familiar with Civil War history, the image of the KKK is pretty engrained in my mind, so when I first see the nazarenos, that’s what I first think of. However, it’s important and interesting to note that this scary, negative connotation is not present at all in Spain. Kids love the nazarenos (they give them candy!) and people who wear the capirotes are respected for their religious devotion and commitment to their hermandad. In fact, Spaniards think it’s pretty funny how freaked out Americans get when we see the nazarenos, since the clothing items mean something completely different here.

After the nazarenos and the penitentes, there is some kind of band, and sometimes even people wearing military-like uniforms or riding on horseback. There are sometimes members of the clergy, and people carrying incense, as well.

However, the “best part” is when the paso arrives. These are huge, probably about the size of a car, and are ornately decorated with gold, silver, silk, wax flowers, real flowers, candles, jewels, etc. Most hermandades have a paso with Jesus, and one with Mary, but some have an additional paso depicting a scene from the Bible, such as the Last Supper, or Jesus being judged by Pontius Pilate. Many of these pasos are kept on display inside their churches so they can be enjoyed throughout the year. Other times they are kept away and only brought out for special occasions. I went with CIEE to visit the Basílica de La Macarena several weeks ago, and there you can visit the museum and see their María Santísima de la Esperanza Macarena Coronada (the Virgin Mary), as well as their pasos, up close. The amount of effort (and money) that goes into these is astounding. (For example, Mary’s cloak may be embroidered with real gold, or she may have crystal tears that reflect the light, etc.)

To me, the most astounding thing is that the pasos aren’t moved around on wheels. Nope, they’re actually carried by members of the hermandades! The pasos usually weigh around 4,000 pounds!! Somewhere between 25 and 50 people, called costaleros, carry the pasos on their back and shoulders. People volunteer to do this job! On Monday my friends and I went to see a certain procession because her host sister’s boyfriend was a costalero. The costaleros get breaks, and so at certain points during the procession they put down the paso and swap people out. There’s a person called a capataz who uses a doorknocker/mallet kind of device to knock on the paso to get the attention of the costaleros and give instructions. Everyone in the crowd knows what an amazing feat this is, so people often applaud when the pasos walk by, and especially when they are lifted up after being on the ground. Applause is also common when the paso has to turn a corner or otherwise do some kind of difficult maneuver.

The general atmosphere varies from procession to procession. The Palm Sunday ones are more geared towards kids, so the atmosphere is pretty lively and festive. People are usually talking throughout, and while they’re respectful, they’re still casual. The only exception is that when the paso arrives, people start “shushing” each other and it gets pretty quiet out of respect. Other pasos are also more celebratory, like on Palm Sunday, but later in the week, especially on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday, they’re much more solemn, somber, and quiet. While it’s tradition to dress up and wear new clothes on Palm Sunday, on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday, women wear black, and oftentimes wear traditional trajes de mantilla (a black lace headscarf) to express mourning for Jesus’ death.

In addition to viewing the pasos, it’s generally just a time to be social. While pretty much all stores are closed, restaurants and bars stay open, and people eat and drink with family and friends. Kids enjoy holding out their hands to try and get candy from the nazarenos, and they also try to collect small cards that the nazarenos sometimes hand out that have pictures of their hermandad’s icons. (Kind of like trading cards, haha.) Because it’s very common for people to bring bocadillos (sandwiches) with them, another fun thing for the kids is to roll up the aluminum foil that the sandwich was wrapped in, form it into a ball, and then have the nazarenos pour wax from their candles onto the ball so that by the end of the week, they have a giant ball of wax. I don’t know how this got started, but I think it’s pretty cute. There are lots of vendors selling beer, cotton candy, toy musical instruments, and some of the traditional Semana Santa pastries: torrijas and pestiños. I tried torrija because my host mom’s mother made some just for me! It’s  kind of like French toast: bread dipped in egg and milk, then fried with honey and spices. Pestiños are pieces of dough fried in olive oil and glazed with honey and sugar.

Many people in Seville absolutely love Semana Santa. Some people get really involved and try to see as many processions as possible, and cough up the money for prime seats. For extremely religious people, this week is incredibly important and emotional. (I’ve heard that some people consider the icon of Jesus to actually BE Jesus. So if, for example, it rains and the procession has to be cancelled, then people are completely distraught.) However, many people (especially those who grew up here or have lived here for a while) have had their fill, and instead choose to go out of town during the week to avoid the crowds. (And sometimes it truly is insanely crowded. The small streets in the older part of town get so crammed with people that you can’t even move! It’s nuts.) Regardless of a person’s opinion, if a person lives in Seville, Semana Santa is inescapable. The hermandades rehearse all year long (I heard that they get two weeks off after Easter, and then they start right back up again preparing for the next year!) and the music can be heard throughout Seville. Even now that Semana Santa is over, there are still plenty of remnants of the celebrations left throughout town. Because the candle wax drips on the street and sidewalk, car tires and people’s shoes squeak when they walk. Many apartment balconies still have the red and gold cloths or palm leaves draped over them, as is traditional for decoration. I went to mass with one of my friends on Palm Sunday, and it’s customary to carry palm leaves or small olive branches, so some nice Spaniards gave us some, and mine are still in my room, haha.

After two days of running around, lots of standing, lots of crowds, and lots of waiting in the sun, I had had my fill of Semana Santa. I see the appeal, and I think I got an excellent introduction to the celebrations, but I was definitely ready to get out of town after just a few days. Luckily, all of my tickets for the north were booked, so on Tuesday, I set off for San Sebastián! More about that adventure in my next post.

¡Hasta pronto!