Not the KKK - Semana Santa is the national Easter celebration in Spain and Cartagena has the most renown. The religious celebrations are very strange to us. The first procession started at 04:00 last Friday. It was eerie! In the dark and to the rhythm of a single drummer, hundreds of 'Brotherhood' members slowly and silently march through the old town streets carrying life-size effigies of the Virgin Mary and Christ. All you can hear is the slow drumbeat and the clanging of their beautiful long stemmed candle lights that are tapped on the ground with each step. Stark contrast to last week's festival in Valencia. The cloaks and peaked hoods look disturbingly like the KKK. Each of the four brotherhoods has it's own colour - red, purple, white and black. They are penitent and therefor don't show their faces. Even the children get involved, though their daytime processions are filled with fun as they throw lollies to the spectators. We're glad we stayed here an extra couple of weeks. Wouldn't have wanted to miss this. Click on any photo to enlarge it. The detail is amazing. |
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AuthorLenny & Gina Archives
February 2015
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