Semana Santa in Sevilla…

Last Sunday, we headed out for our usual morning walk and noticed a large group of people gathering just outside our apartment.  Curiosity took us closer and we noticed a number of Spanish men (of very similar build, height and age and all wearing white undershirts) helping each other fasten something on their heads.  It looked like this:

We walked a little further and noticed a big wooden structure loaded on top with blocks of heavy cement.  Underneath the structure looked like more than 30 men huddled together in a crouched position preparing for something (see picture below)? An older gentleman (leader) suddenly shouted something and then the men grunted and jumped up onto their tiptoes lifting the structure up before gently settling it onto the back ‘roll’ of their headpieces.  The men then slowly began to shuffle their feet in unison – at first rocking back and forth – then inching forwarded.  When they came to a corner they rocked back and forth again in unison slowly turning each time they rocked.

We found out that this is called a “pasos” (float) and is carried by 24 to 54 men during the Semana Santa procession.  And here’s a little video of the men lifting the pasos up in rehearsal.

It turns out we happened upon a ‘rehearsal’ for the big Semana Santa (holy week).  This year it is March 25th to April 1st and it starts soon after we leave Seville.  Originally we had hoped to be in town for it but all the accommodation (including our apartment) was more than double the price and apparently it is a VERY busy week in the city so we decided it probably wasn’t worth it with our entourage.

As we continued our walk, we happened upon a number of other rehearsals throughout the city.  There are apparently over 70 ‘brotherhoods’ who will have one to three (very heavy) ‘pasos’ that will be carried through the streets of Seville during the week of Semana Santa.

Each float will go from its own church to the Seville Cathedral and back home again. Some can take up to 14 hours.

These images show what some of the floats look like.  The men we saw rehearsing are hidden under the float that is beautifully carved and is dressed in flowers, candles and fabric.  There are hundreds of other people in the procession as well as thousands of people watching from the streets. This is taken from Wikipedia to explain what Semana Santa is: ” It is celebrated in the week leading up to Easter (Holy Week among Christians), and features the procession of pasos, floats of lifelike wooden sculptures of individual scenes of sorrowfull Mysteries of the Rosary, or images of the grieving Virgin Mary.”

Some processions are silent while others have a music accompanying them (in the form of a brass quartet, trumpets and drum, brass band or accapella choir).

La Catedral

La Giralda and La Catedral in the background

On one of our very first walks to the Cathedral back in February, we passed through the Plaza Nuevo.  We noticed a large amount of scaffolding type materials leaning up against the wall of the city hall.  At first we wondered if maybe they were preparing for a concert in the square?  As it turns out, they were actually preparing for La Semana Santa (1 month before)!  We walk through this plaza most days now and they are busy every time we pass through setting up the stands – a carpeted viewing area as the pasos arrive to the cathedra for this massive week long celebration.  There are many workers involved in setting it up and they have been at it for 3 weeks already! In the image below you can see 2 cars parked – this is where the procession will pass through.

Something else that has taken us a bit by surprise – but we have come to notice all over Seville – is this ‘head dress’ – it is called the “Capirotes” (tall pointed hoods with eye holes).

This is a widely celebrated image in Spain.  We have seen both young and old trying on their Capirotes in shops in preparation for the Semana Santa week.  It will be worn as a sign of mourning for Christ.  It will then be removed in jubilation when he is resurrected.  This image can also be found in most souvenir shops – in the form of dolls, candy lollipops, cakes, costume etc.

We feel privileged to have witnessed some of the Semana Santa preparations.  It has been very interesting for us all to see how passionate and dedicated the Spanish people are to their religion.  There is a sense of belonging.  Of community.  The boys have asked many great questions which we have done our best to answer.

After we witnessed the ‘rehearsal’ last Sunday, we later found all these same men filling the bars socializing and having a good time together with their families!  They are really good at enjoying life here in Spain.