We went to the Good Friday “General Procession of the Holy Burial of Christ” in Xàtiva yesterday. The procession lasted about two hours.
Spain still maintains a lot of its traditions and there are processions and festivals in Xàtiva several times every year. I love them, as they usually involve the participants dressing up in traditional costumes. I went to the Fallas celebrations in Valencia a couple of weeks ago, which also involve processions in the traditional costumes, but those are modelled on medieval finery, these ones are based on religious dress, especially the “Capirotes” which were worn by the Spanish Inquisition.
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- The first brotherhood in the procession
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- These costumes are called nazarenos ; the hood is called a capirote.
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- More capirotes
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- Pentients: bare feet and heavy chains
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- Drums are an essential part of the bands that participate in Spanish processions
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- You’d think the drummers would get a headache, beating one of these for a couple of hours
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- The traditional costumes are expensive, but even children are dressed in them
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- One of the floats (called pasos) depicting scenes from the crucifixion of Jesus
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- The bearers of the pasos are women as well as men. The pasos are heavy – there are frequent stops in the processions to give the bearers a rest
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- Another paso – these can weigh up to a tonne each
In Germany, with the Fasching Parade, people have their beer and schnaps on the roadside to get a head start on the partying.
What do the spectators in Spain take in while watching the parade?
Well, in this case it was a religious procession, and we didn’t see any drinking on the streets at all. But I don’t recall seeing people drinking in the streets much (or at all?) for other processions either. There was plenty of drinking going on at the Pego festival however – beer and wine. (That was a carnival festival!)