Story 5: Semana Santa

This is a very important week for many Spaniards. In this week before Easter, from 5th of April till the 12th of April, they acknowledge the suffering of Jesus in penitentiary processions. The procession is composed of brotherhood members. There are 42 brotherhoods in Malaga and they will all walk around the city in that week on different days. There is for example, the brotherhood of love, the brotherhood of health, the brotherhood of mercy and each of these brotherhoods have their own throne. They wear a "trono" along the streets of Málaga with a statue of Jesus or Mary. This job is considered as a great honor. The statue is so heavy that every one is leaning on the shoulder of the person before them. I have witnessed this once in my life and seeing as the “trono” with the statue is so heavy, many of the men cry. Furthermore, they also have to pause many times during their round through the city as the statue weighs over 5 tons.

It took decades, as with other festivals, before Semana Santa became what it is today. The point of departure is Christ's death, as this is the festivals theme. One significant year for Semana Santa 's history is the year 1521, when the Marqués de Tarifa returned from the Holy Land to Spain. He brought the Via Crucis (Cross Stations) to Spain and with a procession celebrated this religious event. The Vía Crucis was later transformed into several scenes of the death of Jesus Christ, and portable crosses and altars were added to the ceremony. The processions gradually grew into what they are today. 

When you look at Semana Santa 's routes, you can see that Carrera Oficial is always the street that they will cross. This original route, extended since 1604, remains an annual part of the processions. The last big change occurred in the 17th century, when the different brotherhoods, the cofradías, began to separate from each other.

Each region in Spain has its own processions. Those processions are literally processions of retribution. Invariably there are penitents wearing point-shaped masks to guarantee anonymity. Such costumes were later also used by the (otherwise highly anti-Catholic) American Ku Klux Klan, who gave a negative connotation to the picture of the Spanish penitent.

In Spain the Semana Santa is supported by many rituals, and those in Andalusia in particular are very popular. A good example is the celebration of Semana Santa in Seville but similar ceremonies also take place outside Seville, especially in the capitals of the other provinces of Andalusia, Huelva, Cadiz, Málaga, Córdoba, Granada, Jaén and Almería.

Additionally, many villages and smaller towns have their own traditions as well, often each with its own particularities. Málaga's processions are characterized by their deviant pasos, called Tronos, which are much bigger than anywhere else and must be carried by a hundred and fifty Hombres del Trono.

It is described as the most impressive week that you can experience in Malaga.