Semana Santa y Pascua en Salamanca

When I returned to Salamanca on holy Thursday I noticed hundreds of tourists came to town for holy week. All week it was more crowded than I was used to in Salamanca. Holy week, Semana Santa in Spain, is the week leading up to Easter. In Spain, a widely Catholic country, the celebrations here for holy week are spectacular. Throughout Spain, holy week is celebrated with processions, holy parades where floats are carried down the streets. Holy week processions include a lot of planning as many people take part in it. In Salamanca there are different church groups represented in the holy week processions. I counted 17 religious fraternities, also referred to as “brotherhoods,” represented by flags hanging in the Plaza Mayor of Salamanca. Every evening during holy week, and some mornings, major processions were held where floats of saints are carried by costaleros accompanied by marching bands. These costaleros are well respected for being responsible to bear the floats throughout the processions. It is not an easy task as the processions are very slow and the floats are quite heavy. The floats must be carried with caution and grace as some of these are very old and fragile. For most Americans it is an interesting experience to see Nazareños as they resemble the Ku Klux Klan with the clothes they wear. These Nazareños are meant to depict people from Nazareth. In the church dressing like this is a humbling symbol as everyone is shown wearing the same clothes, symbolic of equality. The dress of the cone shaped hats and draping clothing was actually original of the Nazareños and was later taken by the Ku Klux Klan. It is a shame that this clothing symbolic of religion was was stolen by a racist group for a totally opposite idea. Even after learning the background of this, it was still a culture shock to see hundreds of Nazareños marching the streets bringing images of the KKK to mind. But the vibe and energy during the processions is very different, it is a very serious moment. In our class we learned that some people even cry during the processions. I found myself in the Plaza at 3am where the processions were still occurring, hundreds of people were awake including children and elderly to watch the processions. I found it spectacular that it is such a major celebration, the floats are beautiful, people walk with candles at night, and the smell of incense in the air is strong. On Easter, Pascua in Spain, a celebration was held in the Plaza Mayor. All the religious fraternities marched to the Plaza at noon where the major floats were carried, bands played music, followed by singing, and finished with a public reading. On Pascua the feeling in the crowd was more lively and entertaining. This was one of the most spectacular Easter celebrations I have yet to experience!



Nazareños during semana santa processions





Easter day celebrations in the Plaza Mayor