Walking with Christ

The Semana Santa processions are an incredible, solemn spectacle. Granada was full of them last weekend. Over a four-day period more than a dozen processions made their way through the city’s narrow lanes to its majestic Cathedral. Each follows the same protocol; a line of hooded parishioners and women in traditional black lace accompanying two heavy wooden gilded platforms, called pasos, along a pre-defined parade route.


The first pasos carries a statue of Christ called the Crucificado; the second, the Virgin Mary or Dolorosa. Each pasos is a spectacle in itself, bedecked with scores of jewels and semi-precious stones. The Virgin is usually covered by a tasseled canopy, supported by twelve bars. The front of her pasos is layered with row after row of lit candles, while the rear supports her cascading, ornately embroidered veil.


Christ is depicted in a number of forms. Christ on the cross was the most common, others reproduced alternative scenes from the Easter story such as Christ’s triumphant Palm Sunday entry into Jerusalem. In an unexpected surprise we got to see every Crucificado close up. They were on display in the Cathedral when we visited on Easter Saturday. Later the same day we watched a live broadcast of each pasos returning to their home churches in a grand procession. We’re told this was an event that happens once every 100 years.


A pasos can weigh several tones. Yet each is carried on head or shoulders of white-clad statue bearers called Costalero. They’re easy to spot with their white cushion, or costal, secured to their head by a thick, folded cloth. The Costalero slowly make their way by synchronizing their steps in time to the drum beat of a trailing band. Up to 50 Costalero carry the pasos for a distance of 200-300 metres before rotating their position with a second team. Each rotation is accompanied by an appreciative applause from the surrounding crowd.


As you’d expect the pace is slow. Each procession starts outside its home church and continues for five or six hours. Some began at midnight and continued until dawn. Our first evening in Granada saw us venture into town to watch our first Semana Santa procession pass. The crowd was festive, lining the streets five or six people deep. Street vendors sold balloons (can anyone tell me what Mickey Mouse has to do with Easter?), popcorn and ice cream, while bars and pastry shops nearby remained open.


Our first sighting of the procession was a memorable moment. Three hooded figures appeared from a side street, one holding a large, jewel encrusted guide-cross, the others carrying candle-lit lanterns. The entire ensemble has an eerie resemblance to that of the Ku Klux Klan. Of course, the Spanish attire is the original and doesn't carry the same connotations as its American counterpart.


Each hoods and gowns was made from white satin, with narrow black eye holes. I later learnt that this garb symbolically makes its wearer identical to everyone around them; only the Lord knows who they truly are inside. Each brotherhood’s costume is a different colour. Over the course of three days in Granada we saw gowns in white, blue and black, and heard of others that were crimson or yellow.


The entire procession is filled with tradition. I’m sure Garry and I missed much of the detail. However, one caught my imagination. Most of the brotherhood and women carry long candles. Children venture from the crowd to capture their dripping wax in balls that slowly grow in size. We saw a few who’d gathered wax the size of soccer balls.


We saw at least five separate processions, including one from the comfort of our hotel balcony. It was a surreal experience watching the crowd swell around each pesos, hearing the band and watching each moment unfold before us as it was broadcast live on local television. Later the same evening I ran down the hill to watch the same procession return home in triumph.


On our last night in town we even found ourselves caught up a procession returning home. As we walked back to our hotel we encountered a Pieta-themed pasos passing its front entrance. You see the procession outside our hotel in the photo above. As the crowd slowly made its way up the hill we kept pace with the band, while onlookers clapped and cheered. It was a magic moment.