Welcome back to our blog after a break for Holy Week (Semana Santa). Easter is an important religious
festival in Spain and Hispanic America with many traditional celebrations taking place across the country. Easter is marked in many towns and cities by processions through the streets during the evening. Ornate floats called tronos depicting part of the Easter story are carried by as many as forty or fifty people in parades lasting several hours.
Some regions have their own specific traditions for their tronos and processions. In Murcia, for example, a tronos depicting the Last Supper is carried which includes a table laid with real food, and on Easter Sunday that food is eaten by the men who have carried the tronos through the town. In Malaga, the Easter traditions include the ritual freeing of a prisoner, who is then blessed by the figure of Jesus Christ. In the village of Hellin, in the province of Albacete, you can witness the Tamborada – a festival of up to 20,000 drums parading through the streets. However, by far the biggest and most famous processions take place in Seville. These are organised by the Easter Brotherhoods, (co-fradias) and often include highly decorated (and very heavy!) statues of the Virgin Mary as the various Brotherhoods vie to put on the most spectacular procession.
If you’re currently taking Private Spanish Lessons then you will certainly be fascinated by the deeply religious and colourful celebrations taking place across Spain at this time.