Semana Santa or Holy Week in Spain (; ; ; ; ; ) is the annual tribute of the Passion of Jesus Christ celebrated by Catholic religious brotherhoods (Spanish: cofradías) and confraternities that perform penitential processions on the streets of almost every Spanish city and town during Holy Week—the final week of Lent before Easter.
Description Spain is known especially for its Holy Week traditions or Semana Santa. The celebration of Holy Week regarding popular piety relies almost exclusively on the processions of the brotherhoods or fraternities. These associations have their origins in the Middle Ages, but a number of them were created during the Baroque Period, inspired by the Counter-Reformation and also during the 20th and 21st centuries. Membership is usually open to any Catholic person and family tradition is an important element to become a member or "brother" (hermano).
Some major differences between Spanish regions are perceivable in these processions: Holy Week sees its most glamorous celebrations in Andalucía, especially in Jerez de la Frontera, Granada, Málaga and Sevilla, while those of Castilla y León see the more sombre and solemn processions in Zamora, León and Valladolid.
A common feature in Spain is the almost general usage of the nazareno or penitential robe for some of the participants in the processions. This garment consists of a tunic, a hood with conical tip (capirote) used to conceal the face of the wearer, and sometimes a cloak. The exact colors and forms of these robes depend on the particular procession. The robes were widely used in the medieval period for penitents, who could demonstrate their penance while still masking their identity. These nazarenos carry processional candles or rough-hewn wooden crosses, may walk the city streets barefoot, and, in some places may carry shackles and chains on their feet as penance. In some areas, sections of the participants wear dress freely inspired by the uniforms of the Roman legion.See Semana Santa en San Fernando (Spanish Wikipedia)
The other common feature is that every brotherhood carries magnificent Pasos or floats with sculptures that depict different scenes from the gospels related to the Passion of Christ or the Sorrows of Virgin Mary. Many of these floats are art pieces created by Spanish artists such as Gregorio Fernández, Juan de Mesa y Velasco, Juan Martínez Montañés or Mariano Benlliure y Gil. Brotherhoods have owned and preserved these "pasos" for centuries in some cases. Usually, the "pasos" are accompanied by marching bands performing "marchas procesionales", a specific type of composition devoted to the images and the confraternities.
Tourism The Holy Week is not only a religious, cultural and social event but a touristic one. Many visitors from inside and outside Spain travel to attend the crowded processions. Every year, many hand guides are released, including timetables, routes and pasos of every procession so visitors can easily follow the celebrations.
The General Secretariat of Tourism of the Ministry of Industry and Tourism of the Government of Spain grants the honorary distinction of Fiesta of International Tourist Interest to those celebrations with international projection and they are promoted in major international fairs, television and press. The Secretariat also grant the distinction of Fiesta of National Tourist Interest at the national level and the different regional governments also grant similar distinctions at the regional level.
Holy Week in Andalucía
Among Holy Week celebrations in Andalucía, Málaga (1980), Granada (2009), and Sevilla (1980) are declared of International Tourist Interest. Holy Week in Jerez de la Frontera (1993), Cabra (1989), Ríogordo (1997), Baena (2001) and Almería (2017) are of National Tourist Interest. In another Range are those declared only of Tourist Interest by the Secretary of State of the Government of Spain, which falls within the Holy Week of Arcos de la Frontera (1980), Puente Genil (1980), Baeza (1980), Úbeda (1980), Jaén (1981) and Huércal-Overa (1983). At the next level comes the turn of those declared of Regional Tourist Interest by the Andalusian Government, which are Córdoba, Écija, Ayamonte, Antequera, Castro del Río, Marchena, Huelva, Utrera, Lucena and dozens of other Andalusian municipalities.
Almería There are, in total, 26 brotherhoods in Almería and "pre-brotherhoods". The most important brotherhoods are; "La Estrella" "Prendimiento" and "Estudiantes". The Holy Week in Almería was declared of National Tourist Interest in 2017.
Cádiz Cádiz's Holy Week has an artistic heritage stemming from important sculptors such as Miguel Láinez Capote and Jacinto Pimentel, incorporating the special importance of Genoese imagery. The 31 brotherhoods of the city march along streets of the historic center among 18th-century style buildings. When carrying their floats, the brotherhoods of Cádiz use a shoulder-to-shoulder technique which is unique from other locations.
Jerez de la Frontera
The Holy Week of Jerez de la Frontera stands out for being one of the most important in Andalusia in terms of number of brotherhoods, quality in its carvings and iconographic sets. Its forty-five brotherhoods of penance fill the week from the Saturday of Passion to Easter Sunday with content befitting the historical roots of the celebration. Holy Week in Jerez de la Frontera has a rich historical and artistic cultural heritage since the most renowned image makers, carvers, goldsmiths and embroiderers of recent centuries have contributed to making it, leaving behind a large legacy.
Every year it has corners especially dedicated to the saeta that catalyzes the cultural heritage of this way of understanding this flamenco art. This results in a Holy Week with its own idiosyncrasy, which unites imagery, and a collection of artifacts, some of which come from the first Sevillian processional school, renovated in its day, with final destination in Jerez. This produces processions with distinct flavors, which still retain the aura with which they were conceived, and that inherit from history the design, goldsmithing and embroidery of the great masters. All these things, together with the high number of brotherhoods, and the presence of the flamenco saeta, make this Holy Week relevant in Andalusia and Spain.
The brotherhoods arrive at the Cathedral by an official route. Jerez de la Frontera has the longest official route in Spain, . Jerez de la Frontera has its own Diocese, independent of that of Cádiz-Ceuta, so although it belongs to the province of Cádiz, it must be studied individually as another Diocese. The Holy Week in Jerez was declared of National Tourist Interest in 1993.
Córdoba Córdoba holds one of the most popular Holy Weeks in Andalusia. thirty-seven brotherhoods take part in processions with elaborate "pasos" which represents the scenes of the events of The Passion of Christ.
Granada
Although there were processions from Granada in the 16th and 17th centuries, it was at the beginning of the 20th century when this tradition was extended and consolidated. Thirty-two fraternities and thirty-four Nazarene courts participate. The Royal Federation of Brotherhoods and Brotherhoods of Granada is the body in charge of the regulation of the set of brotherhoods of the city.
In this city Christian brotherhoods and institutions were created from the taking of Granada in 1492. The processions will be extended in the sixteenth century with the Counter-Reformation and there will also be some in the XVII. However, the bulk of the brotherhoods they were founded from the beginning of the 20th century.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the archbishop's support and the resurgence of the local bourgeoisie led to a boom in Holy Week. This revival began in 1996 with the procession of the Holy Great Burial. In the 1920s, seven new churches were founded brotherhoods of penance. In 1927 the Federation of Brotherhoods of Granada was created, in a similar way to the Association of Brotherhoods of Málaga created in 1921.
In 1936 Federico García Lorca wrote a narrative for Unión Radio about Holy Week in Granada. Since 1970 this tradition has suffered a certain decline, although it will recover from 1977. It was declared of International Tourist Interest in 2009.
Málaga
Over 500 years, Holy Week of Málaga has been constantly present in the religious and popular feeling of people from Málaga. The Holy Week religious celebrations in Málaga are famous countrywide. Processions start on Palm Sunday and continue until Easter Sunday with the most dramatic and solemn on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday. Images from the Passion on huge ornate "tronos" (floats or thrones) some weighing more than and carried by more than 250 members of Nuestra Señora de la Esperanza, shape the processions that go through the streets with penitents dressed in long purple robes, often with pointed hats, followed by women in black carrying candles. Drums and trumpets play solemn music and occasionally someone spontaneously sings a mournful saeta dedicated to the floats as it makes its way slowly round the streets.
The Baroque taste of the religious brotherhoods and associations, along with the great amount of processional materials that they have been accumulating for centuries, result in a street stage of exuberant art, full of color and majesty. Many brotherhoods were affected by the burning churches in 1931 and an important part of their heritage was destroyed (i.e. trousseaus, imagery, and other equipment) during the Spanish Civil War. In the years following it, revival was slow but it recovered with much greater numbers than before. Also, by the 1970s, Cofradías nuevas began to be formed in the city, and some old brotherhoods which had been forgotten, were reorganized by young people as: Salud, Descendimiento, Monte Calvario and many more others to adapt to the changing times.
Holy Week (Semana Santa) in Málaga features processions in which large processional floats known as tronos carry religious images through the streets. These processions include thousands of penitents (nazarenos) wearing traditional robes and carrying candles, accompanied by bands performing processional marches. Incense and flowers are commonly used, and substantial crowds assemble along the routes to observe the processions.
Holy Week in Málaga is very different from that celebrated in other Andalusian or Spanish places, and those who go to Málaga for the first time will be surprised, as the Passion Week there is not lived with meditation and silence, but it is full of happiness, noise, cheer, spontaneous saetas (flamenco verses sung at the processions) and applause as the images pass by.
Some tronos (floats) of Holy Week of Málaga are so huge that they must be housed in other places different from the churches, as they are taller than the entrance doors: real walking chapels of over 5,000 kilos carried by dozens of bearers. There are also military parades playing processional marches or singing their anthems along the route. All of this does not imply a lack of religiosity (nor the opposite though, since not few of the participants consider themselves lapsed catholics), but it is just the particular way that many people from Málaga live their faith, folkloric gustoes and/or feelings during the Holy Week. One of these military celebrations is that of the Spanish Legion, which parades the image of Christ of the Good Death together with the Legion's own military band and Honor guard on Maundy Thursday, very popular among tourists, locals, and military veterans. It was declared of International Tourist Interest in 1980.
Seville