Processions

Semana Santa is a huuuuuuge holiday week in Spain, possibly the biggest one they have, and celebrated all over Spain.  In Sevilla, it is bigger and more serious than anywhere..one of the reasons I decided to spend 2 days there during Holy Week.  Here are some pictures from the processions.  Let me explain everything to you:

First of all, you are going to see the hooded men that look like KKK members.  It has nothing to do with that.  The reason they wear the hoods is so that only God can see them as they repent.  Each of the different hermandades, or brotherhoods, wears a different color hood and robe and carries different flags, banners, candles, crosses, and different what I would cal "floats."  The floats are these giant metal rectangles that are very ornate.  They are covered in silver or gold and covered with candles, then in the middle on top there is a depiction with stautes of one of the scenes during Jesus' journey to the cross to be crucified.  The ones I saw included Jesus walking with the cross on his back, Jesus talking to the women after they have wiped his face with the white cloth, seeing his face on the cloth, the soldiers sent to kill Jesus, the Virgin Mary (very common) and the most moving one is Jesus actually nailed to the cross, but I never actually saw that one in person, just in pictures.  These things weigh hundreds of pounds and are held in the air on the shoulders of 50 men that are underneath and completely hidden by a skirt that goes around the entire thing.  They carry them for at least 8 hours at a time, the men that walk with them give them water when they stop walking, about every 500 feet, the rest.  Enjoy the pics, this was unlike nothing I had ever seen. :)