Semana Santa en Espana

All semester, our program director, Luis, kept telling us how incedible semana santa is and how we have to see it. He even suggested starting spring break later just so we could be here for it. Now, on day 4, I know why he was so adamant about us being a part of it. It really is incredible! I can't believe how much people get into it here. There is atleast one parade every night with hundreds of people of all ages involved. People are dressed up for the parades and there are tons of amazing marching bands and intricate 'floats' carried several miles by groups of men. The floats are extremely heavy (you can tell by how sweaty and exhausted the men carrying them are) and so beautiful. They are decorated with flowers and usually have candles and huge statues. The processions started on Palm Sunday after mass. The second parade was Sunday night and went right down my street! It was so cool to be able to watch it from the balcony.

One of the most interesting (or most wierd) things about semana santa in Spain are the outfits.  They are almost identical to the KKK outfits. Here is a little background i found:
"One of the most striking, and perhaps most eerie, spectacles of the festival are the Nazarenos (based on the people of Nazareth, as the name suggests) in their tall, pointy hats and matching robes with their faces completely covered, apart from their eyes. The sight of hundreds of slow-moving unidentifiable figures in these ghostly, alarming costumes can be a little unsettling, and they are frequently compared to the Ku Klux Klan.

One can be forgiven for believing the Ku Klux Klan and the Semana Santa parades were borne of the same idea, since the costumes of both are practically identical. Despite this, there appears to be no connection whatsoever between the two, although the Nazarenos came first. The Ku Klux Klan used their costumes for disguise, for the Christian connotations and perhaps the fact they were usually white had a racial significance. Although there is the possibility that there were members of the Klan who had witnessed Semana Santa parades and took their inspiration from these, there is no defined link at all.
As for why the costumes are used in Semana Santa celebrations, the origins remain a mystery but the purpose is simple – their faces are covered in mourning, and also as a sign of shame for the sins they have committed throughout the year. "

It is definitely creepy seeing a huge crowd of the Nazarenos marching through the streets - it got a little easier the more parades I watched. The Nazarenos are friendly and even hand out candy to people lining the streets ... pretty funny to see someone that looks like a member of the KKK walk up to a little girl and hand her a pack of gummy bears, but i wasn't complaining when they gave me some too!

Processions are every night and usually start around 7:30 in some random part of the city. They always end on La Rambla ( a main street leading down to the beach) anywhere from 11:00pm - 2:00am! That means the people marching (some as young as 4 and 5) and carrying the floats are doing it for 4-7 hours... every. single. night. Thats dedication for ya.

Here are some pictures from Palm Sunday, the first day of processions

morning parade down La Rambla

evening parade down my street

Tuesday night Processions:

In Alicante, the biggest and most important night of processions in Wednesday, where the processions take place in the village of Santa Cruz (I have posted a lot of pictures from here, its the tiny, pretty neighborhood with all the steps and cute white houses leading up to the castle). These processions start at Plaza de la Ermita, at the top of the santa cruz village, and go all the way down to la Rambla. These are especially challenging because people are carrying these huge, intricate floats down hundreds of steps. The processions start at 7pm and people start lining up for spots as early as 3pm. Bianca and I got there around 430 and claimed our spot against a wall along the stairs. The stairways in santacruz can get very narrow, so there is only enough room for one row of people standing on the stairs in order for the floats to be able to pass through. Spots filled up really fast so im glad we got there when we did. it was the coolest atmosphere in the neighborhood. It is usually quiet whenever I walk through there but now the balconies and rooftops of all the houses were packed with people out to watch the processions. It was really cool to see.

It was incredible watching the people carry floats down the stairs.. way more intense than i thought it would be. The people carrying were so sweaty and some were screaming and looking like they were about to collapse (and we were only about halfway down the stairs!) There were men in charge of each structure that would tell them when to start walking, when to step down, etc. There was also a man in front who I guess was responsible for spotting the float incase they lost control and it started to fall.

As they marched through people reach out to touch the floats (supposed to be good luck) and throw rose petals out from their balcony. Here are 2 videos of the biggest float that came through Santa Cruz (tehre were 4 total) This one barely made it through some parts!



Here are pictures from Santa Cruz!

this one barely made it down.. the cross almost got stuck!



this one was carried by all women. also, the candles
on this one almost caught one of the flags from someone's
balcony on fire.. close call!



Waiting 3 hours on the steps of santa crus was totally worth it for this!

Tomorrow morning at 4 am (yikes) I leave for 16 days of spring break! I start out spending Easter weekend with 4 days in the Cinqueterre of Italy with my room mates Bianca and Jen. After that, I meet up with Michael in Edinburgh, Scotland. We have 2 days there, 4 days in Galway, Ireland, 2 days in Frankfurt, Germany then 2 days in Prague. I'm so excited (but also a little stressed and hoping everything goes as planned!). Cant wait to see all these new places. I won't be able to update here until I get back, but I'll try to post daily pictures on facebook so keep an eye out for those.

Happy Easter to all my family and friends back home! Will be missing my family on easter (and deviled eggs) but will definitely be having a good time drinking wine on my porch looking out over the water in Monterosso.

Cheers!