To get an idea of the sights and sounds of Semana Santa in Seville, watch this video. Under the blue cloth, which acts as a skirt for the paso (float), are 36 men called costaleros, all bent double, with padding on their necks to carry the 2000-kg float with its statues of Jesus and supporting characters.
Semana Santa, like any other festival, has its own special flavours and this is especially during this week because traditionally Catholics are not supposed to eat meat. A great time for seafood.
Semana Santa in Andalucia is not only a religious event, it is also a tourist event. Thousands of visitors descend upon this region either to enjoy the Holy Week festivities in Andalucia or to take a much needed holiday from work. It is of utmost importance, therefore, that cities and towns have everything in order in time to greet them.
If you really want to understand Semana Santa in Andalucia, then you need to learn about the groups of people who are at the heart of it all - the cofrades or members of cofradías, the religious associations that care for the images of Christ and Mary that are used in the processions and that meet throughout the year for various activities and to plan the next Holy Week celebrations and events in their local area.
In most towns and cities throughout Andalucia, during Semana Santa (Holy Week), groups of penitentes, also called nazarenos, accompany their statues of Jesús and Mary as they’re carried out of their church and around the town. They are dressed in robes and pointy hoods, with mournful brass bands.
The aftermath of Holy Week in Andalucia is something most tourists never see. Many locals are also able to avoid actually experiencing the devastation left behind as crowds and procession bearers abandon historic city centres to go home and get some rest after a hard week's parading.
Francisco Carrera Iglesias is a master embroiderer, continuing the five-centuries-old tradition of intricate gold embellishment in his Seville workshop. Velvet gowns worn by Virgin Mary statues in Holy Week processions are gloriously embellished, exquisite limited-edition scarves are painstakingly decorated for couture houses, and evening gowns are bejazzled with sequins. At the height of his profession, this charming, cultured artisan is the youngest Sevillano ever to have a street named after him
