Semana Santa Malaga style

12 April 2014
A belated hola! to you from a warm and sunny Malaga.  I write to you from my default Malaga cafe - La Canasta - enjoying a long overdue café con leche and light lunch which will be followed by a chilled glass of Manzanilla sherry in the bar next door, currently packed with well-dressed Spaniards enjoying an aperitivo y tapa.  I am here for a few days with Cathy to see the processions which mark Semana Santa (Holy Week/Easter) here in Malaga.  As a Semana Santa virgin I was happy to be in the hands of Cathy, a seasoned aficionada - this year will be her 11th Semana Santa!

What is Semana Santa?
You don't have to be religious to appreciate Semana Santa - there is something for everyone: pomp, splendour, opulence, music, drama, atmosphere, etc.  Of course, Spain is primarily a Catholic country and the processions tell the story of the Easter story.  Other than that, I didn't know anything about Semana Santa or what to expect.  Would it be an upbeat or solemn affair?  Would it pass in silence or with the usual Spanish gusto?  Each town and city celebrates Semana Santa differently.  I knew there would be magnificent thrones carried by lots of men, rocking side to side to bear the enormous weight of the thrones (some weigh in excess of a metric ton) but that's about it.  I've never, though, had a problem with being thrown in at the deep end ... I usually swim! 

In brief, Semana Santa can be summarised in three words: passion, devotion and art.  Sure, the images depict religious scenes but not all the participants and spectators will be practising Catholics - indeed church attendance in Spain is very low.  And, some comment that its opulence must be offensive to those suffering in the face of la crisis (economic crisis in Spain) but we saw no evidence of that except perhaps the Spanish would only have one drink and tapas, then go home, rather than make a day or night of it.  No, they were out in number - young and old - enjoying the occasion because Semana Santa is a huge part of Spanish culture.  And, of course, they're dressed in their finest!

Each procession is the culmination of a year's meticulous planning, creativity, maintenance and artwork on the part of the cofradia (brotherhood) and its helpers.  I can't begin to imagine how many people are involved in bringing one throne to a procession - I suspect 500+.

The Brotherhoods
Throughout Malaga's Semana Santa a series of processions will be made by 16 cofradias (brotherhoods) - not all in one day but usually half a dozen per day.  Some cofradias will do more than one procession during Semana Santa and lovingly design, build, maintain and care for their pasos (floats) and tronos (thrones).  The pasos/tronos are huge platforms which hold each brotherhood's depiction of the Virgin Mary and/or Christ.  The cofradias have their own unique coloured robes for easy identification during Semana Santa.  Some pasos/tronos are so big that they cannot be stored in their home church so, instead, they are stored in special casas - big church-like storage buildings adorned with images of the Virgin Mary and Christ. 

The two big days in the Semana Santa calendar are Domingo de Ramos (Palm Sunday - when Jesus enters Jerusalem on the Passover) and Jueves Santo (Holy Thursday/Maundy Thursday - when Jesus shared his last supper with his disciples before being arrested and crucified the next day).  This time around I will only experience Palm Sunday, Holy Monday & Holy Tuesday - all daytime processions - because Mick and I are in the process of moving back into our house after being away a year.  On Holy Wednesday Cathy moves onto Cadiz for a very different Semana Santa experience - much smaller and more sombre apparently - yet nonetheless moving.  Processions on Jueves Santo begin at midnight in remembrance of the vigil kept by the Jesus's disciples.  If you like your sleep I recommend you don't stay in a central location on Holy Thursday - the bells and bands will run throughout the night until 7 or 8am!

The Processions

Each procession lasts around 8 hours.  Some allow a change of costaleros or hombres de trono (men that carry the throne) but not all.  This may explain why a procession only moves around 50 metres at a time before taking a rest of 15 minutes or so.  A procession can take an hour to pass and you have to plan your day around this and, of course, there are several processions per day.  You can't go anywhere without bumping into a procession during Semana Santa!  There are crossing points and etiquette: you can only cross once the band and throne have passed.  You'd think it would be chaos but people wait patiently - no pushing or shoving like there'd be in the UK - no drunkenness either - how refreshing!  

Pasos & Tronos

The pasos/tronos are truly works of art.  You won't see anything like it anywhere else except Latin America.  The biggest European Semana Santa is Sevilla which I've yet to visit (Cathy's been more than once) but Malaga is no slouch.  A week after we left Malaga, Cathy emailed me to say she was still overwhelmed by Malaga's Semana Santa.

 

The tronos usually depict each cofradia's unique and subtly different life size Virgin Mary topped with a canopy to protect her from unexpected rain while the pasos (floats - without a canopy) usually feature Christ and one or two other characters, perhaps a Roman soldier, a disciple and often a tree!  I've yet to discover why each cofradia has its own Virgin (e.g. Virgen de la Cabeza, Virgen de las Lagrimas, Virgen de la Esperanza) - perhaps someone can let me know - but they are all different in colour scheme, detail and splendour.  Indeed, should it rain the cofradias have to rush their paso/trono into the nearest church or casa and that's their chance lost for another year.  Of course, when the weather dictates, they then have to move their trono/paso back to their own church/casa should it temporarily be in another church - not with all the pomp and splendour but it will be a formal occasion. 

Trono (left) and paso (right) of Cofradia Amor

But it doesn't stop there.  Each paso/trono is accompanied by a large - often military - band (with full percussion and brass sections) that has its own set of music to play throughout the day.  The music varies between rousing and solemn - but it is always beautiful and very moving.  Cathy and I were moved to tears on more than one occasion.  Listen to this - recorded from our balcony:

The band is followed by a cruz de guia (a guiding cross) and a team of nazarenos (Christ's witnesses) wearing robes, an antifaz (hood) and/or a capirote (conical hat with hood) to hide their identity.  There is no malice at play here - that is the fault of the Ku Klux Klan who stole the capirote and used it for its own twisted purposes.  Young bystanders can't wait to shake a hand with a narazareno and may even The narazenos number in excess of 100 and are forbidden from talking once robed (though you'll see them chatting in the photo below!)  Occasionally you'll see penitentes, robed people bearing their own cross(es) to repent their sins, dependent on their own life story.  They don't wear hoods but are sometimes blindfolded and barefooted.

Nazarenos wearing capirotes at rest during procession

Next is a priest who blesses the trono/paso with incense (you can see him behind the narazenos).  Then you'll see the similarly robed but unhooded capataz who directs the 100+ costaleros (men that actually carry the trono) by voice and bell located at the front of the trono.  I got to recognise the bell ringing pattern (one for right, two for left and 3/4 for up and down) - I loved it, so much so that Cathy wanted to buy me a bell!  You can imagine the scene: a cacophony of bells, bands and clapping - that sense of organised chaos that is Spain and which we love!

The tronos are beautifully decorated with the Virgin Mary for she is revered by Catholics.  She is always centrepiece, dressed and protected by a canopy.  Each trono bears numerous candles encased in long, glass holders (which are kept lit by a member of the cofradia using a long, telescopic pole throughout the day), flowers and cherubs all of which are surrounded by gold or silver poles which support the canopy.  The Virgin Mary wears a manta/palio - a long veil which covers her forehead and runs backwards to the rear of the trono.  The mantas are sumptuous, usually velvet, silk or satin - or a combination of all three - beautifully embellished by hand with real gold thread, jewels and gems - breathtakingly beautiful and priceless.  The manta for our local cofradia (Fusionadas) cost £1.5m in gold thread alone!  Sometimes the appearance of a trono is marked by a saeta - a solemn, flamenco-like serenade sung by a male or female soloist.  All very dramatic. 

Trono showing the magnificent manta

The paso will have Christ as centrepiece usually with other characters and is carried by costaleros like the trono but is never covered with a canopy, perhaps because he's not so elaborately dressed and presented but, still, I'm sure it would be damaged by rain.

A typical paso showing Christ with the crucifix

The streets are embellished by the cofradias' red banners depicting their own Virgin Mary and/or Christ.  Friends of ours likened the processions to opera settings and they were right.  Some cofradias throw rose petals onto their Virgin Mary from the balconies. 

Typical Semana Santa banners adorn many balconies

So, that sets the stage for what is to come.  Next I'll bring you news of Las Rubias (blondes) let loose in Malaga for Semana Santa, particularly some favourite tapas bars and that of our own, local cofradia - Fusionadas and its Virgen Maria Santisima de Lagrimas y Favores (Holy Mary of Tears and Promises/Favours) - of which Antonio Banderas is a member!  Over & out for now!  xx