It was Wednesday our last day at work and I was talking to Marcos which told me about their Easter.
He told me that on the last day before Easter many people from all over the Spain migrate from one end of Spain to the other as Easter processions take place across the country, attracting people to the Iberian Peninsula every year. They call it Semana Santa which lasts from Palm Sunday to Easter, so Marcos went a little bit earlier just because of all the people who migrate. Because I was curious what kind of processions have here and I found out that the most spectacular and dramatic Easter celebration takes place in Seville, Andalusia. Processions wind through the streets of cities, towns and villages.
The main characters are penitents, men dressed in long robes and pointed hats, a kind of hood that has only eye openings. The processions, which end in front of the city cathedral, have a tradition in religious fraternities (some women still do not have “entry”) and among hundreds of participants, the most committed believers are recognizable by walking barefoot and carrying heavy crosses on their backs. As many as 59 processions have been announced in Seville. In Madrid we didn’t track down any processions, but we saw them on tv.
In Spain they have work free days on Thursday and Friday, in some regions of Spain they also have free day on Monday. We took advantage of free day and went on a little walk around Madrid, where we haven’t been yet. There were so many people on the streets that you could get easily lost in the crowd. We were also able to pack our things and clean the apartment. Then we started preparing for the flight home on Saturday.
