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They say one of the most authentic experiences in Spain is to participate in the Semana Santa in Seville. The processions go for a full week, day and night, and are world famous attracting millions of tourists annually. This year our family, including Cathy's parents, enjoyed the spectacle and had an unforgettable experience.
Background
In Seville there are 60 Cofradias or brotherhoods that work all year to raise money and prepare for their procession. These Cofradias can have up to 300 people in them and all have very long and rich histories dating back to the 15C. In each procession the main feature is the ‘pasos’ or float that is carried by the costaleros. One float is of Jesus depicting a scene from the Passion Week and the other one is always of Mary. These floats are ancient works of art that have been preserved since the 15, 16 and 17 centuries and the only time they are taken out of the church is for this annual procession. The floats are elaborate and beautiful and extremely heavy. It is important to understand that the processions are acts of penitence so the costaleros truly suffer as they carry the ‘weight’ on their shoulders or back of their necks. Also the many people in the processions walk for hours, some in bare feet, as their penance. The people wear special tunics that are a certain color with special emblems and belts. Also each procession decorates the pasos with particular fresh flowers and candles and the candle bearers carry huge candles that are a specific color for their cofradia. The tunics are very famous because the hats look like the ones the Klu Klux Klan wore. I now know that the KKK took it from these deeply religious processions because the covering of the face was meant to hide people’s identity so their penance was anonymous, the anonymity of the KKK was needed for more sinister reasons.
Our Experience
We arrived on Wednesday evening and after having dinner on the sidewalk we bought a few groceries for our apartments and on the way back we saw our first procession as it was returning to the small church Carmen Doloroso on our street. We had front row seats and could actually touch the float and watched it disappear through the church door. It was then we realized what great accommodations we had as on our streets, Feria and Relator, many of the processions were going to go by and we could watch those from our balconies!
On our first full day we walked to the historic town center to visit Seville Cathedral which is one of the biggest in Europe. It is beautiful complete with a grove of orange trees in the courtyard and yes the smell of oranges blossoms does scent the air. We also saw the tomb of Christopher Columbus which is quite impressive. In addition to seeing the cathedral we also climbed up Giralda Tower for a lovely view of Seville and the river. After lunch we toured Alcazar Castle which is a beautiful example of Muslim architecture, intricate designs with tiles and lovely gardens. We were tired after touring all day and walking back home so we had a simple dinner back at our apartment and looked forward to a good night’s sleep that wasn't to be. At 1:00am La Macarena procession went by after having had the Roman soldiers pass by twice earlier with their drums beating. I didn’t mention that most of the processions are accompanied by a brass band and drummers so you certainly know when they are coming. This long and loud procession went by right under mom and dad’s window so sleeping wasn’t much of an option. The good thing was that at 9:30am the same procession passed by on its way home so Anatolijus and the girls and I brought breakfast over and were able to watch the procession go by from the coveted ‘balcony view’. It was really amazing and to top it off as the float of Mary went by the woman in the apartment beside us threw handfuls of rose petals onto the canopy of the Mary float – it was very moving. (see photos)
Once the procession had passed we walked over to Pilates House and toured it, a former palace of the Governor, it boasts a beautiful garden with bougainvillea covering a whole wall in dramatic purple hues, a Moorish styled inner courtyard, intricate tiled walls and carved designs and decorated wood ceilings. On the walk home as we passed a convent we stopped by to hear and see nuns singing their mass in a small chapel. In the afternoon Anatolijus and I went to see two more processions but both were cancelled due to rain threats. When a procession is cancelled it is a big deal as people have prepared and paid to be a part of it and there is no rescheduling, when it is cancelled the Cofradia has to wait until next year. The reason the threat of rain is taken so seriously is because the figures on the floats were made in the 15 or 1600 hundreds, and are considered to be important works of art and can be damaged by water.
On Saturday we left Sevilla at 6:45am in our rented van and drove to Granada for our 10am tour of the Alhambra. The Alhambra is the most visited site in Spain so being so close we took advantage of the opportunity to see it. The weather was overcast and there was a cold breeze coming off the snow covered Sierra Nevada’s making it a cool 9C. We had a guided tour in English which was interesting and the interiors of the buildings are spectacular with their intricate geometric shapes and designs. The tour was 2.5 hours and it started 1 hour late because it was one of the busiest days of the year to be there. After our tour we drove down to the old city of Granada and had a great lunch at a quirky restaurant where the waitress was like an old friend. We thoroughly enjoyed the drive through hectares of Andalusia olive groves going from Granada to Seville, we got back at 8pm after another full and interesting day.
Easter Sunday Morning
In the early hours of Easter Sunday morning the final Resurrection procession leaves for its journey to the cathedral, and it went by our apartment at 6:00am with a beautiful Mary float aglow with candles and only a few people accompanying. It was great to be able to stand on our balcony with the girls still sleeping and experience it and then go to sleep. We had a nice breakfast at home with mom and dad and then took advantage of still having our rental van and drove to Plaza Espana to see the spectacular tiled benches of each capital city in Spain. The Plaza was redone 2 years ago and is spectacular with bridges over a crescent shaped water way, a lovely building surrounding, a fountain in the center and horse drawn carriages trotting past. Plaza Espana is connected to the beautiful Maria Luiza Park, which is considered to be one of the most charming in Europe and we enjoyed our stroll through the flowers, water features and open green areas. To add to an already full holiday we drove 34 km outside of Seville to a small town called Carmona: it is situated on a rise overlooking the northern Andalusian plain. We had a nice lunch sitting outside in the sunshine then drove back through lovely countryside due to a misreading of our GPS.
On our last night Anatolijus and the girls and I sat in a lovely pedestrian only area with a big playground and we drank cervezitas while the girls played and made some friends. We then had a late dinner and strolled home at 10:30pm. One aspect of Spanish life that we love is the communal experience of living outside with people of all ages gathered together eating, drinking, laughing and sharing. On our final day we walked back to the historic center and went shopping in the famous barrio Santa Cruz. We came away with some lovely ceramics to take home as well as feeling full of new sights, sounds and experiences.
