14 Monday Apr 2014
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Or more specifically, signs of Easter in Sevilla. “Wax warning” signs put up around the city along procession routes. I’ve never seen these before so I’m guessing the city has been sued due to slippery wax related accidents…
In case you don’t know, penitents carry long candles during the Semana Santa processions that drip wax (cera) along the way. For a couple of weeks after Easter shoes and car tires make squeaky noises.
04 Wednesday Apr 2012
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customs, easter holy week, festivals, semana santa, sevilla, seville, spain
[click on image to enlarge]
Things have been very quiet around here Semana Santa-wise. After months of scarcely any rainfall it’s pretty much been coming down non-stop since Palm Sunday. Tomorrow it looks like it may lift for about 24 hours before starting up again on Friday.
Above are some pics I took on Monday evening. It was quite sad to see everything deserted and the odd nazareno – like that young boy – making his disconsolate way home after his procession was cancelled.
On the right are a couple of rogue nazarenos I saw yesterday, making their way over to their church. But about an hour later the skies really opened up. Me? I was all cosy at home in PJs watching a film on DVD with Peter and the cats, as I will be again this evening. But tomorrow I have a tapas tour – I don’t know what I was thinking! Oh right, about paying the rent 😉 …. but in fact I do love a challenge and so it should be an interesting night.
It’s actually been a few years since I’ve gone out following the processions and looking for the best vantage points. But I do love Semana Santa and the general upheaval and chaos. I don’t even mind the inconvenience of shops being closed or not being able to get out and about because of the crowds. I guess a part of me enjoys how this crazy week really shakes things up. And in spite of loving my “new” home I still miss hearing La Madrugá played below my bedroom balcony on Martes Santo… so glad now I got up to film that video as it was my last time.
Oh, and this is also the first time in my 19 years here that the orange blossom (azahar) has coincided with Semana Santa. It also seems to be lasting a bit longer this year. Heaven.
29 Thursday Mar 2012
Went to an amazing photo exhibit today that really blew me away called “100 Photographs of Semana Santa That You Should See”. Photos from 1885 and up to almost present day. You can read more about it here…
29 Wednesday Feb 2012
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Bet you don’t see this where you live! And as many times as I’ve seen it, including the guys above a couple of nights ago, I am always stopped in my tracks and, well, a little bit in awe. They are costaleros practicing for Semana Santa, when they will carry the statues of Jesus and the Virgin Mary on the backs of their necks throughout the processions. Here they are practicing with weights instead of statues while they perfect their moves because, as you can imagine, it’s quite difficult to manouevre these things, and taking corners is especially tricky. During the processions you never see the costaleros (other than those taking breaks and having beers at nearby bars) and I find it fascinating to see them at work like this.
[also posted on azahar’s Sevilla]
21 Thursday Apr 2011
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only in Sevilla…
In case you missed this on the Sevilla Blog, we are now in the middle of Semana Santa (Holy Week) in Sevilla. For those who haven’t experienced, or don’t know about it, it’s all about the processions – more than sixty of them during the course of the week, including those of the Madrugá on the Thursday night through to Friday morning (though this year it looks likely to be rained out). Each procession carries statues of the Christ and the Virgin from its home church to the Cathedral and back again, accompanied by nazarenos and penitentes carrying candles and crosses, and the distinctive music of the Semana Santa marching bands.
Because this is the largest and most elaborate celebration of its kind in the world, people come from all over Spain and even further afield to see it. With such large crowds, especially in the centre and around the cathedral, it is almost impossible for the residents to live normal lives, and for the last 18 years I’ve spent most of Semana Santa pretty much trapped in my flat just up the street from the cathedral. But this year I will be spending it in my new home near the Alfalfa for the first time, and I really don’t know what to expect in the way of crowds and inconvenience.
In retrospect it seems almost prescient that I took this video last year of the Santa Cruz procession, which plays my favourite marcha, the haunting La Madrugá by Abel Moreno. Little did I know that it was going to be the last time I would watch it go past below my bedroom balconies…
casa azahar 