Semana Santa

Easter is a big deal in Spain! Holy week is a massive celebration all across the country, with big processions happening in every town. The most famous ones are in Andalusia, especially in Seville. Our own town, Alcalá de Henares has some of the best processions in the Madrid area, and it was really cool to see the traditions.
The most recognizable thing from the processions are the outfits with the tall pointed caps, capirotes, and long robes. When I first saw these costumes, my first thought was that it reminded me of racist societies in the USA, but these robes are much older and have been part of Spanish culture since around 1300. They are NOT associated in any way with the KKK.

Penitentes

While I don't understand all of the symbolism behind the garb, the people wearing them are called penitentes. They wear the garb as a way to show penitence and seek forgiveness for sins. It's an extra sign of devotion similar to fasting in some Christian faiths. The person's identity is hidden, so they make their devotion still as a personal offering to God. The hat is like a spire reaching up to heaven, seeking grace. Also, these hats are the origin of dunce caps, that children would wear when they did something wrong.

Big brass bands accompany the floats as they wend their way down the streets. In Alcalá, the floats went from a church at one edge of the historic district to the cathedral. Huge swaths of incense cover the streets, and all of the penitentes carry gigantic candles like walking sticks. }

The floats in the processions are carried by people. I counted the number of feet I saw under the float, and it looked like there were about 40 people carrying it. One of the ecclesiastical leaders stops the float, knocks three times on a bar on the side and talks to one of the people in front through the screen in front. They talked for a moment, and then the people inside would pick the float back up, the church leader would knock three more times, talk to them for a second, and then they'd keep walking. It was really interesting! I wish I knew what was said.

On Easter Sunday the festivities were even bigger. There were two floats, and one of Jesus came to meet one of Mary head on, then they turned around and went inside the Cathedral.

My favorite part of Holy Week were the torrijas, which are like a mix between french toast and tres leches cake. They're delicious!