Holy Week in Spain

Semana Santa is the Spanish term for the Holy week ( Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday ). It is widely celebrated in many places in the strongly Catholic countries of the Spanish -speaking world.

The best known are in Germany the celebrations of Semana Santa in Andalusia, where they are committed intensively and with great sympathy of the population. But in other regions of Spain, Latin America and Italy respective celebrations take place. The most important components are the processions.

Processions

Processions take place over the entire Holy Week, but the main procession is usually on Good Friday. They are mentioned by Hermandades Cofradías or associations organized and conducted. The fraternities are usually connected to a church congregation. Each procession include several hundred to over a thousand people. The processions consist mostly of the Pasos with its owners and attendants, the Nazarenos and Penitentes (German: penitents ), and bands or drummers groups ( in Aragon ). The penitents often go barefoot, wear long robes and are masked with the typical pointed hood, what is the anonymity of the Bußakts.

The procession begins at the Church of the home church of the respective fraternity. The aim is the distance that is required for the fulfillment of the Bußaktes. This trail is well defined and equal for all fraternities of a city. In Granada, which is the distance from the main square to the cathedral through the main entrance into the cathedral in until before the altar, the side of the Puerta del Perdon ( Door of Forgiveness ) from the Cathedral out. Then the procession moves back to the original church. Typical are processions with Christ and Madonna figures and (often disguised ) penitents.

Considered the population or accompanied the processions with particular attention to the Pasos and in relative silence. A little louder it goes to two of the most famous processions in Seville. Their images of Mary, the Virgen de la Esperanza Macarena, and the Esperanza de Triana, Seville divide the population into two almost " Fanlager ". In some places, including Granada, there are also processions of silence, during which the street lights are switched off. Then serve only the costs borne by the participants of the procession candles for lighting. In some of these processions, the marching music is replaced by short orchestral pieces of music.

The traditional processions of Semana Santa in Seville are the most famous. You will find throughout the Holy week ( total of 60 ). In addition, the processions of Malaga, Cuenca, Cartagena, Salamanca, León, Zamora, Valladolid, Lorca and Hellin are officially recognized as " of International Tourist Interest " in Spain.

In Andalusia there are in almost all other cities and smaller towns, similar celebrations, especially in the provincial cities of Huelva, Cádiz, Córdoba, Granada, Jaén and Almería.

The celebrations often have certain local features. The processions in Murcia are known to the Nazarenes be processed beans, hard boiled eggs and candy give away. The drum processions in Niederaragonien are also known throughout the region. There are also in Valencia, Catalonia and Galicia and the autonomous city of Ceuta isolated Semana Santa processions.

In countries such as Colombia, Peru, Mexico, Venezuela and Guatemala, which once were under Spanish colonial rule, the Spanish tradition of processions has also been established for the celebration of Holy Week. Similar traditions is also available in Taranto in southern Italy. In Croatia, on the island of Hvar, there is a similar custom of the Cross procession in Hvar.

Hermanos

Among the Hermanos, taking part in the procession of the Brotherhood for the celebration of Semana Santa, there are three different groups according to their function:

• Nazarenos: the famous penitent with the typical pointed hood. Depending on the duration of their membership in the Brotherhood they go with more or less distance to one of the Pasos and carry candles or other insignia.

• Penitentes: penitents, carrying a wooden cross on his shoulder. As the Nazarenos they are also clothed with the Túnica, but the hood hangs back.

• Costaleros: The case of Pasos. About 35 to 50 of them wear every Paso and take turns regularly. They protect their scalp with a cotton cap, the costal.

Pasos

An important part of the processions are the Pasos. It is table-like structures that show a statue of Mary or a scene of the Cross with Jesus statue. They are carriers ( Costaleros ), members of Hermandades, carried on shoulders. The carriers are in this case under the constructions. Because of the side sheets of fabric, the carrier can not see the surroundings so. Commands for the direction and pace are called by a companion. Commands for the simultaneous settling and raising the constructions are given by knocking. The main element of each procession is the Virgen (Virgin Mary), whose figure is adorned with precious robes, candles and the typical canopy.

In Málaga the prozernierenden tronos with partially over 4 tons of weight are particularly powerful and impressive. They are worn ( instead of the usual Costaleros ) of up to 250 hombres de trono, accompanied again by the so-called Nazarenes ( nazarenos ). Typically, a train consists of two tronos: a statue of Mary and a Station of the Cross. A further distinction of Semana Santa in Malaga is the rocking step. There are countless stories and anecdotes about the individual tronos: Mena with the Cristo de la buena muerte ( Christ of the beautiful death ) is accompanied by the desert army Legionarios. In honor of El Rico a prisoner is pardoned from the nearby prison each year. This tradition has its origins in the Middle Ages, the throne bearers were just as in times of plague and the prison population Malaga declared ready to step in.

Music

In Andalusia, the processions of brass bands are accompanied by percussion and horns. The music is usually a slow -borne marching music. It is here and there broken spontaneously by the a capella singing Saeta. These are Lamentations of the Virgin Mary on the Passion of her Son, or personal Lamentations of the singer. This song has strong echoes Arabic and is also referred to as a genre of flamenco singing.

Also, in the Castilla - León determine drums and trumpets, the sound, the musical aspect, however, is sparse.

Particularly well known are the held mainly in Niederaragonien and the Bajo Martín drum processions on the Ruta del Tambor y del Bombo to Alcaniz and Calanda.