Spain

Introduction

Easter and Holy Week (Semana Santa; pronounced say-MAH-nuh SAHN-tuh) celebrations in Spain are among the most outstanding and passionate in the world. Although Easter is the most sacred holiday season of the year and is observed with extreme reverence, it is also a very colorful and boisterous holiday marked by thousands of parades and fiestas, or parties. From Palm Sunday through Easter Sunday, cities and towns all over Spain are a riot of color, emotion, and celebration as people fervently commemorate Jesus Christ's death and resurrection.

History

The earliest known accounts of Holy Week celebrations come from a woman named Egeria, believed to have been a nun from northern Spain. In 381, Egeria began a three-year pilgrimage to Christian holy sites. She wrote down detailed observations about Holy Week observances in Egypt, Jerusalem and Palestine, and Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey).

By the time of Egeria's journey, the Holy Land had become a major destination for Christian pilgrims. Worshipers moved from one holy site to the next, listening to readings from the Bible, the sacred book of Christianity, and recalling events from the life of Christ. The locations in Jerusalem that marked the events leading up to Christ's crucifixion and resurrection and the commemoration of these events became known as the stations of the cross.

The pilgrims, including Egeria, took their reports of Holy Week observances in the Holy Land home with them. Word of their observances quickly spread and people throughout the Christian world adopted many of the religious practices. Soon after Egeria's pilgrimage, Spain held the first reported Easter procession in the Western Church. The procession took place on Palm Sunday. By the seventh century, Holy Week observances had spread to presentday France and England.

Over the next centuries, Holy Week commemorations in Spain and the rest of Europe evolved as the laws of church and state changed. In Spain, as elsewhere, the celebrations and traditions were influenced by the various cultures of each region.

Most current Holy Week traditions in Spain began during the sixteenth century. One tradition involved helping members of the church better understand the Easter story. Prior to this time, traditional ceremonies and masses were said in Latin, a language that was not spoken by the majority of people. The Church commissioned famous artists to create life-size images of the biblical figures from Christ's Passion (suffering) and resurrection. The figures were then paraded through the streets at Easter. These processions brought the biblical story to life and started a tradition that has remained at the heart of Holy Week celebrations in Spain to this day.

Folklore, Legends, Stories

Religious legends abound during this most holy time of year in Spain. The legend of the Holy Grail is among the most popular. Old folk customs surrounding Lent add a note of humor to the season.

The Holy Grail and the cathedral of Saint James

The cup that, according to medieval legend, was used by Jesus at the Last Supper is housed at the cathedral in Valencia, Spain. Called the Santo Grial, or Holy Grail, it is made of agate and embellished with twenty-six pearls, two emeralds, and two rubies. It is said to have belonged to the Virgin Mary, who visited Spain to see James, one of Jesus' disciples. Later known as Saint James, he was one of the first to preach Christianity in Spain.

Saint James is considered the patron saint of Spain. His grave is said to rest beneath the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela (Saint James of Compostela), in Galicia. Built in the twelfth century, it is Spain's holiest shrine and one of the most visited shrines in Europe.

The seven-legged woman

An old Spanish folk custom was to make a cardboard figure of a woman with seven legs, with each leg representing the seven weeks of Lent. Each week, the figure was carried through town and one of its legs was pulled off. During the final week of Lent, Passion Week, the figure was burned on a bonfire.

Customs, Traditions, Ceremonies

Palm Sunday is called Pascua Florida, or "Flowery Easter." (The Spanish explorer Ponce de León gave the state of Florida its name because he discovered the flowery territory on Easter Sunday in 1513.) Palm fronds are blessed, then taken home and placed on balconies as lightning rods throughout the year, following an old tradition. Many of the palm fronds, some as long as six feet, are cut from a palm forest at Elche, on the southern Mediterranean coast of Spain.

Holy Week processions

During Holy Week, more than three thousand processions depicting scenes surrounding the death and resurrection of Christ are held throughout Spain. The most spectacular and well-known processions take place in the city of Seville, where from four to eight processions are held simultaneously each day from Palm Sunday through Easter Sunday. Because of the large number of processions held on Holy Thursday and Good Friday, city streets are closed to auto traffic. Pilgrims from all over the world throng at the foot of Seville's cathedral, the second largest in Europe, to watch the parades.

The processions have remained almost unchanged since the sixteenth century, thanks to the Catholic Church, which adheres strictly to tradition and ceremony. They are similar throughout the country but are stamped with each region's own character or accent.

Leading the Holy Week processions are nazarenos (pronounced nah-zuh-RAY-nohs), men who dress in long white gowns with tall, white, pointed hoods that cover their heads, faces, and shoulders. These robes are called capuchones (pronounced cah-poo-CHOH-nays). Some nazarenos carry large wooden crosses to repent for wrongs they have done. Others carry six-foot-tall candles and chant prayers. In Murcia, Spain, the nazarenos carry candies and pastries under their robes, making their stomachs look fat. They lose the "weight" as the procession continues because they throw all their candy to the children in the crowd.

Heavy parade floats called pasos carry life-size wooden sculptures depicting such biblical scenes as the Last Supper of Jesus and his disciples, Christ bearing the cross he would be crucified on, Christ at the Crucifixion in custody of the Roman soldiers, and the Virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus. Figures of Mary are often dressed in elaborate gowns and wear glittering jewels. They are sometimes fitted with real hair and eyebrows and shed glass tears. The pasos glow with thousands of candles held in silver holders and are adorned with beautiful flowers. Crowds line the streets to watch as the candlelit images parade through darkened streets to the beat of a single drum.

The images are escorted by members of cofradías (pronounced koh-frah-DEE-uhs), ancient religious brotherhoods. They wear long, brightly colored robes and tall, pointed hoods with slits cut in them so they can see. Seville area brotherhoods have more than one hundred pasos, which they store in the fifty-eight local cathedrals and churches between processions.

Some twenty-five to forty men, known as costaleros (pronounced cos-tuh-LAY-rohs), carry the heavy floats on their shoulders, using rolled-up sacks called costals as padding. For one float, forty-two men carry 142 pounds each. The crowd cannot see the costaleros, because they walk underneath the floats, which have long skirting draped from the edges.

A leader walks before each float to let the carriers know when to start and stop. As the floats move along, they sway gently with the movements of the costaleros, making the wooden figures seem almost lifelike. Occasionally, a high-pitched wail, or saeta (arrow), an improvised song of grief sung by a spectator, pierces the air and the procession comes to a halt, giving the costaleros a chance to rest.

Many of the paso images were carved during the seventeenth century. La Macarena, the Virgin of Good Hope, is the best-loved. She belongs to the brotherhood of bullfighters and gypsies. She has a scar on her left cheek inflicted when an intoxicated man in the crowd threw his wineglass at her. To atone for his deed, he walked in chains among the nazarenos for eight years during Holy Week. La Macarena is borne on an elaborate float laden with a multitude of flowers and hundreds of candles. Before she is returned to her place at the cathedral on Good Friday night, the men carrying her float rock it from side to side to make the Virgin "dance."

In the city of Lorca, two regional groups compete to see which has the most elaborately decorated statue of the Virgin Mary. One is the Virgin of Suffering, or the Blue Virgin, and the other is the Virgin of Bitterness, or the White Virgin. The groups spend large amounts of money on adornments for the statues and on the processions themselves, which include some two hundred Spanish stallions.

The penitents

As do people in the Philippines and some other countries, some Spaniards perform extreme acts of penitence (repenting of sins) at Easter. Called picaos (pronounced pee-KYE-ohs), the barebacked penitents whip themselves with cloth or leather whips as they pass by the stations of the Passion. Others are bound tightly to makeshift crosses with ropes.

Lighting the Paschal candle

Masses are held throughout Holy Week in Spain, but a highlight of these services is the lighting of the huge Paschal candle, which in some cathedrals can weigh up to eight hundred pounds. The candle is lit on the morning of Holy Saturday in anticipation of Christ's resurrection. Throughout Lent and Holy Week, it is concealed behind a purple veil that also hides the church altar. The veil is drawn on Holy Saturday as people kneel to pray. Holy Saturday is also the day that church bells resume ringing. During Holy Week, no bells are rung in Spain from Holy Thursday until Easter Saturday.

Burning Judas

In some parts of Spain, including Andalusia and the Basque country, people make a life-size straw or rag effigy (representation) of Judas Iscariot during Holy Week. According to the Bible, Judas was the disciple who betrayed Jesus for thirty pieces of silver. The straw man is suspended by a rope over the street and is burned on Easter Sunday or Monday. "Judas" is sometimes filled with rockets or other fireworks, which adds a spectacular effect when he is set on fire. In the town of Alonso, riflemen use an effigy of Judas as a target during "Judas' Party." The children drag the remains through the town streets.

Dances, fairs, and bullfights

On Easter Sunday afternoon, there is dancing and people go to bullfights. On Easter Monday, large fairs open in many Spanish cities. These are filled with music and dancing, feasting and drinking, trading cattle, buying and selling crafts, and showing off gorgeous folk costumes.

Battle of Flowers

In the city of Murcia, people welcome spring with the Bando de la Huerta (Battle of Flowers), which begins on Easter Monday and lasts about two weeks. This colorful festival includes music, dancing, processions, fireworks, speeches, and a parade in which groups compete to see which one has the most colorful, blossom-bedecked float.

Clothing, Costumes

On Easter Saturday in Spain, women discard the black lace mourning clothes they have worn since Good Friday night. On Easter Sunday and during the fiestas and bullfights that begin on Monday, they dress in festive folk costumes or simply wear the Western-style clothing that is the norm in most cities. The carved wooden Passion figures featured on pasos, or floats, are dressed in real costumes, often expensive robes embroidered with gold and studded with jewels.

Foods, Recipes

On Easter Saturday, families begin preparing for the Easter Sunday feast. As in other Mediterranean countries, roast lamb is often the main Easter dish. Good wines are also chosen.

A Spanish Easter bread decorated with red-dyed eggs is made, similar to the Easter bread made in Greece. It is called monja, meaning "nun," and is baked in a round loaf. The top is marked with a cross, with red eggs at the four corners of the cross, making a beautiful decoration for the Easter table.

A famous traditional Easter sweet made in Toledo, Spain, is mazapán (marzipan), made from almond paste, sugar, and egg and formed into intricate religious shapes. Sweets served at fiestas on Easter Sunday include turrón (a chocolate nougat) and yemas, made from egg yolks boiled with syrup.

Spain's national dish is paella (pronounced pie-A-yuh), made with seafood, chicken, and rice. It is traditionally served at both Easter and Christmas in a large oven-proof skillet called a paellera.

Arts, Crafts, Games

Figures that are displayed on pasos during Holy Week processions are considered treasured works of art in Spain. Many were originally carved from wood by famous Spanish artists and sculptors. One of the finest figures featured in Seville's Easter celebrations is called the Agony in the Garden, which was built by sculptor Francisco Salzillo (1707–1783). According to legend, Salzillo carved the figures from a drawing furnished by an angel whom Salzillo had given a room for the night.

Another favorite image in Seville is a figure of Christ that was carved during the seventeenth century by sculptor Juan de Mesa. As the image is carried in Holy Week processions, it draws many kinds of emotions from the onlookers. Some people cry, some laugh, some confess their sins, and many reach out to touch the famous image.

Spanish Easter Paella

Ingredients

12 mussels or clams (or 6 of each), scrubbed
3 pounds chicken, cut into bite-size pieces
2 cups lobster meat, cut into chunks
1 pound washed, peeled, deveined shrimp
2 Italian sausages (or 2 chorizo), sliced
2 cups chopped ham
1 teaspoon dried saffron, or 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
2 cups rice
1 can stewed tomatoes, drained and chopped
1 cup green beans
1 cup peas
1 bell pepper, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, diced
1 large bay leaf
2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley about ¹/₂ cup olive oil
4 cups chicken broth salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Heat broth and add saffron or turmeric.
2. In large Dutch oven or paellera, fry chicken pieces in 2 tablespoons of oil until browned. Sprinkle with a little salt and pepper, remove from Dutch oven, and set aside.
3. Add 2 more tablespoons of oil to Dutch oven and fry onions, garlic, bell pepper, and sausage pieces until sausage is browned. Remove sausage and set aside.
4. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Add chicken broth and bay leaf to Dutch oven and bring to a boil.
5. Add rice, tomatoes, peas, and green beans, bring to a boil again, season with salt and pepper, then remove from heat.
6. Add shrimp, lobster, and ham, stirring well to mix. Bury mussels or clams in the rice mixture, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes. Throw away any mussels or clams with shells that did not open.
7. Place chicken pieces and sausage on top of rice mixture, cover, and bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes.
8. Stir chicken and sausage into paella and garnish with parsley. Serve piping hot, right from the Dutch oven.

The Spanish Easter egg town

Although Easter eggs are not common in much of Spain, they have a special place in the town of Pola de Siero. Two months before Easter, people in Polo de Siero begin preparing the eggs. First, they clean the eggs thoroughly with soap. Then they draw designs either directly on the eggs or on tracing paper so the designs can be transferred to the eggs. Next, the eggs are cooked and dyed, and the designs—which include names, animals, poems, and flowers—are painted.

The decorated eggs are given to friends or sold to tourists from all over Spain during an Easter Tuesday fiesta. For the fiesta, there is a parade, with children and adults dressed in native costumes. The streets are decorated with tree branches tied with wire, and large barrels of cider line the parade route to take care of the thirsty.

Easter chocolate

In other parts of Spain, elaborately decorated chocolate Easter eggs are popular. The eggs are placed in baskets decorated with stuffed animals such as rabbits or chicks and given to children as gifts. Some cities have contests to create the best chocolate sculpture, many of which are animal figures.

Music, Dance

Holy Week processions in Spain are filled with religious music and hymns. Spanish composer Cristóbal de Morales (c. 1500–1553) wrote many famous pieces of church music, as did Tomás Luis de Victoria (c. 1548–1611), whose music is widely performed during Holy Week and in Passion plays. Amateur actors and actresses give Passion plays throughout Spain during Holy Week in many locations, including roped-off streets, churches, and theater stages.

One of the trademarks of Easter music in Spain is the spontaneous and heartfelt saeta, a wailing song of grief and repentance sung by ordinary people who are deeply moved by the sight of the holy figures. These brief songs of mourning are often sung from a balcony overlooking the street. The saetas can be so striking that the processions come to a halt and the crowd grows suddenly quiet.

Bocinas and bombos

In many Spanish cities and villages, drums sound throughout the period of mourning for Christ's Passion and death. Nearly all the men, wearing long robes, beat drums beginning at midnight on Holy Thursday and continuing until late Saturday night, Easter Eve. In some areas, as many as ten thousand drummers participate.

The loud, steady drumbeats are called tamboradas (pronounced tam-boh-RAH-duhs). The brass drums used are called bombos. Some drummers sit in one place, while others walk up and down streets drumming for hours. Drummers wrap their hands to protect them from the steady pounding, but many men finish the ceremony with bleeding hands in spite of this precaution. In some areas, men play long horns called bocinas (pronounced boh-SEE-nuhs) that emit mournful sounds that recall Christ's suffering before and during the Crucifixion.

Easter eve serenades

In one old Easter custom, called the fromajadas (pronounced froh-muh-HAH-duhs), groups of young men go door to door on Easter eve serenading the residents with guitars or drums. They receive cheese pastries for their efforts.

Special Role of Children, Young Adults

On Palm Sunday, children carry palm branches to mass to be blessed by the priest. Boys carry undecorated branches, but the girls' branches have sweets or decorations hanging from them. Throughout Holy Week, some Spanish children take part in processions. They dress in costumes similar to those of adults and carry candles or incense.

A favorite Holy Week procession of Seville is La Borriquita (pronounced boreee-KEE-tuh; the Little Donkey), which is held on Palm Sunday. The main paso, or float, features Jesus' entrance into Jerusalem on a donkey. La Borriquita is presented by a boys' cofradia, some of whose members are still babies. A young people's orchestra leads the procession.

The angel descends

In some cities, including Peñafiel and Cartagena, a child dressed in an angel costume thrills the crowd in a celebration called the "Descent of the Angel." The child represents the angel who brought the news of Christ's resurrection. During a Resurrection Sunday procession in Cartagena, a child is lowered with pulleys from the clock tower in the central plaza to a statue of the Virgin Mary. In Peñafiel, the child removes Mary's veil and then releases a cage of doves.

For More Information

Goodwin, Bob, and Candi Perez. A Taste of Spain. New York: Thomson Learning, 1995.

Kohen, Elizabeth. Spain. New York: Marshall Cavendish, 1995.

Web sites

"Semana Santa." [Online] http://www.cyberspain.com/life/ssanta.htm (accessed on February 7, 2000).