WALK: Is that a point in your hood, or are you just happy it's Easter?

HOLY MOLY it’s Semana Santa! 
Semana Santa (Holy Week) is the last week of lent that leads up to Easter, and it also happens to be my spring break! And while spring break in the states usually consist of lounging around, drinking an adult beverage or two, and generally preparing yourself for the last push before finals, here in Spain it has a very different feel. Semana Santa is very interesting to me for many reasons. Obviously the atmosphere is very different, but it intrigues me because it's such a time consuming, over the top, and uber-religious ceremony in a country that doesn’t have many “religious” people. While 70% of Spaniards identify themselves as Catholic, only 13.6% say they practice their faith and attend services on Sunday and holy days, and almost 10% of the 70% say they are indifferent to Catholicism! So why the big push and hoopla during Semana Santa? Your guess is a good as mine, but as a very spiritual person and practicing Baptist, I must say that I do enjoy all of the fanfare. I love pomp and circumstance especially when it comes to religious ceremonies, so I am soaking it all in. I live in an awesome location right in the heart of the city so I get a front row seat to a lot of the events. Every night there are processions that make their way through the city. You can see men, women, and even children taking part in these events and processions. 

There are groups called “Hermandad”(brotherhoods) that have individual members “Nazarenos” that walk in the processions and usually carry the floats, flowers, or incense. There are also bands that play music - la marcha procesiónal - which essentially dictate the pace of the processions. Some processions, such as El Silencio, march in silence and without music. Almost every procession includes an image of Jesus, depending on what scene in the bible it depicts, as well as an image of the Virgin Mary, always in mourning for the death of Christ. But don’t just take my word for it, look at this video that the city of Zaragoza produced that highlights our Semana Santa.

(Sources: Exploreseville.com and catholicnewsagency.com)