Semana Santa in Sevilla

Semana Santa in Seville, Spain is quite a different experience than it is in America. It’s a really big deal here, where they celebrate an entirely different way than we do. Every day, starting Palm Sunday, the entire city is filled with people coming from all over the world and all around Seville to see the churches’ procession.
A brotherhood consists of people (some only men, some men and women), and depending on how many people they have, their processions may consist of hundreds of brothers. There are many different brotherhoods, each based out of a different church. Many have been around for hundreds of years, and own valuable religious pieces, such as crucifixes and candelabras, that they keep in their home church and bring out for Semana Santa. They wear robes of penitence when they walk through the processions, each wearing pointed hats much like those of the Ku Klux Klan. Each brotherhood wears a different color, or set of colors with their own seal embroidered somewhere on it.
A paso (pah-so) is like a float in a parade. Normally, each brotherhood’s procession has a Christ scene at the beginning of the procession (usually one of the stations of the cross) and a virgin figure at the end. Most of the virgins look the same with the exception of eye color and pattern on her train. Each of them rests under a canopy on a float filled with candles and flowers. She also has a crown on her head, usually gold and with many rays coming forth. Usually she is pictured crying with open hands, because of her son’s death. They each, also, have a long train that drapes over the back of the float.
A cofradilla (co-fra-dee-ya) is the name of the procession in spanish. It is the procession of one brotherhood, with their Christ figure in front, and their virgin figure in back. In between them walk all of the penitent brothers in their outfits, walking in 2 lines down the streets. Brothers vary in age, even very young children walk in the processions (with their parents close by to pull them out when they get tired). The main reason that the brothers walk in the procession is a show of penance. Some of the brothers actually carry the pasos, which each weigh a LOT, hundreds of pounds. These men wear workout-type clothes, as well as a rolled up towel on their shoulders to help protect them from the weight of the paso. There are backups as well, to take over after a while, so the other guys can take a break. Each paso will walk about 50 yards, then stop and put the paso down for a little while. When they make the turns, it gets really interesting to see all the practice and coordination they have had to put into this week.
Depending on where the church is located tells how long their walk will be. Some really far away churches have to walk about 14 hours. Each brotherhood carries their pasos to the Cathedral to be blessed and back. Their only real break is when they get to the Cathedral. That’s when they get a chance to go to the bathroom, before starting the journey back to their church. The whole time that they are out walking through the streets, people are walking alongside the procession to watch it go past. The bands that they have in the processions periodically play music to help keep the beat for all those walking. The guys under the floats walk in time to the music.
That’s about all I can write about Semana Santa in Seville, because it’s just something that needs to be seen. It’s such a different experience than anything I’ve seen in then United States. I can see why they make such a big deal out of it here. I hope everyone someday gets a chance to see what Semana Santa in Spain is all about.