Semana Santa in Granada

Our plane from Stansted got in at about 11 in the morning on Saturday but despite that, Diana and I hit the streets at about 7pm to catch one of the last Semana Santa processions.

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A brief description of Semana Santa in Granada:

In the city of Granada, there are various hermandades ("brotherhoods") that organize their own procession for Holy Week. The processions start on Palm Sunday (the Sunday before Easter) and continue through Easter Sunday. Each hermandad has their own figures (statues you could call them) of the Virgin and/or Jesus and they spend a lot of time working to make their floats that are dedicated to them as beautiful as possible. In a way, as I understand it, the processions are a sort of visual "reenactment" of the events of Holy Week...sort of but not quite. It´s hard to explain.

Anyway, the during the processions the floats are carried by costaleros (usually men and boys) and are accompanied by nazarenos (the people in the hooded robes) and women dressed in Spanish costumes that carry crosses and candles. There are various bands that play very melancholy music to set the tone and the pace of those walking in the procession.
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The play by play of our experience:


All around the city people placed purplish banners on their balconies. I didn´t find out why but there has to be a reason...



A view of Plaza Nueva from our front row spot on the street. I was surprised because the atmosphere wasn´t as somber as I had expected. I was later told by people who had gone to other processions that there were a few processions that were more contemplative but that it was "normal" to have vendors selling snacks and kids running around with balloons (Sponge Bob seemed to be a favorite). It reminded me a lot of a 4th of July parade...



The procession started out with a group of musicians...



They sure look enthused, eh? :)



Turns out the KKK stole the idea for their "costume" from the Spanish confraternities. Who knew?



Many of the participants walked in the procession with these huge candles. Some wore shoes but there were quite a few that only wore socks or went completely barefoot.



Women in typical Spanish costumes with the very Spanish peineta in their hair.



Each hermandad has different colors which are reflected in the color of the robes they wear.



A cloud of incense precedes the "float" that carries the statue of either the Virgin or Jesus.



The procession that we saw was Nuestra Señora de las Angustias...this was her float.



The costaleros carrying the float. These floats vary in weight, but be certain that they weight A LOT. There can be up to 40 men carrying one float (with nothing else supporting it). Just the look on their faces when they passed by was enough to convince me that it was heavy!



Another shot of the men carrying the float.