Semana Santa in Seville

This is the first time I came to Spain, but my priority is not Sagrada Familia.  My purpose is to see the marches in Semana Santa.  Almost all Spanish-speaking countries celebrates Semana Santa.  Of course the most attractive for me is Spain.

There are a lot of famous places in Spain celebrates Semana Santa.  Among them, Seville has the largest Semana Santa procession.  Flight from Hong Kong, I landed in Madrid, then the Renfe train to Seville takes about an hour.  I arrived Seville at about 3pm.

Santa Semana?

Santa Semana means Holy Week, an important Christianity event takes place from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday.  The last day of Santa Semana is Easter Monday.  In Seville, Santa Semana procession takes place everywhere in Seville, hold by different brotherhoods (“Hermandades” and “Costaleros“).   The costume each day is different as it is held by different brotherhood.

Since the hostel has some distance from the train station, and procession of that day should have started (though I don’t know where it is), I hopped onto a taxi.  The driver told me the road to hostel had been blocked and could only dropped me off in the nearest alley.  I followed Google Maps direction and walked toward the hostel.  The procession match had already been standing waiting to start! 

Hey I saw them!

I was exhausted after all the long way, but become too excited when I saw the capirotes (the people shown in the picture with conical hat masking the face).  I walked behind the crowd despite the heavy backpack.  Most of the people waiting are local people and they were friendly enough that pointed me to the best spot in the front so I could see the procession.  In order not to disturb them to celebrate this holy event, I left the crowd after I quickly took some pictures with the phone.  (I did not know that the people there were not only “celebrating” but also “praying”!)

At night, I was way too tired that I had dinner in the hostel, and it made me more tired because it was actually a social event.  In this hostel, dinner is different every night and is cooked by the staff (there is no “chef”!) and food are made in “homemade” style to serve travellers who had not have “home food” for long time.  

 

The great thing about this hostel is that I could see the procession from the top floor balcony.  The music was sooooo great that I am still looking for the music to buy.  When the paso passes, the music becomes louder.  Although hostel food doesn’t taste good (for survival only, ok?), but with the music, I enjoyed the dinner very much.  

The owners of this hostel are two brothers from England.  They told me that people here prepare for Semana Santa procession for a year which only takes place for a week.  It means that, from the last day of the Holy Week, people will start to prepare for the next.  And so, you can hear music everywhere in Seville.  Also, people on the street waiting for the procession all dressed formally as they are going to Sunday church.  And for me, the “most” formal, and the only one clothes, was the pair of jeans I was wearing.  Oops.

The procession!

Next day after my morning joe in a nearby cafe, I walked toward the location where the hostel staff told me the procession should be.  Seville is not a bit city, I followed Google Maps’ direction.  If the map shows the road in red, it means it has a road block and that should be where the march would pass by.  With the loud music, I could see people dressed in formal wear waiting for the march.  I know I should find a spot somewhere to wait.  

Members in processions are all local Catholics, from toddlers to seniors, as long as they could walk at least half day.  They see this as an honour to participate in the procession.

Some of the parents even bring their babies to come.  They are dressed in costume (except the conical hat) and put in baby carriages.  Very adorable.

It was warm in April.  The mid-day sun heats people up.  Yet, participants were wearing thick costume and sometimes with the conical hat concealing the face.  It is not easy for them.  Some even hold a heavy stick.  When the paso passed by, people would get into serious.  Some of them even followed the paso and kissed the paso.

Paso is not a cart

 I thought the paso is a cart carrying heavy sculptures of baby Jesus, adult Jesus, Virgin Mary, and other Roman Catholic saints, but actually it is a huge table.  This heavy paso is carried by several strong sack men (there is a thick cloth like a sack on the shoulder of these men to ease the burden of the weight).  The paso would stop and sack men would came out of the bottom to have rests and drink some water.  When they are ready to continue, they would knock the paso, and music would start again. 

Some of the members would distribute candies to pictures in saints (a 4R size pictures with saints figures like Jesus, Virgin Mary, etc.)  They would also give out candies to children.

Exhausted, but still a must-see event in life

I followed the crowd after breakfast, for three consective days.  Super tired.  At night, I had dinner in the McDonald nearby, or just have the hostel dinner.  Shops in Seville closes early.  And in the Semana Santa period, shops are closed except restaurants and supermarkets.

In the last day, I tried to follow the march like local people do.  At the end, the march stops near the Cathedral.  Music fadding out when the march went into the Cathedral.  I went back to the hostel feeling loss but contended. I am not a Catholic, but I truly feel how people in Seville respect and value the religion, which made the Semana Santa celebration takes place every year, for more than a thousand years.