| Note: All hotels are normally fully booked by mid January. So if you want to come at Easter book early. |
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The above links give more
information about the routes and times of the Easter processions in Granada.
Please
note that only some
of the processions have been included, and that times
are approximate. Each procession will go to the Plaza del Carmen (where the Town Hall is) and the Cathedral, so if you are anywhere in the centre you are sure to run into several processions. |
HOLY WEEK / EASTER / SEMANA SANTA
Introduction: The Granadinos
take their Holy Week very seriously, and the Granada processions are
quite spectacular. If you've never seen a Holy Week procession before,
it can be quite breath-taking. Each hermandad (literally "brotherhood")
has their own procession and is understandably extremely proud of
their figures of Christ and the Virgin Mary. Everyone is involved
and a lot of time and effort is spent making the figures
as beautiful as possible.
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During the processions, the floats ("pasos") with the figures
are carried on the shoulders of the "costaleros" (traditionally
men and boys), and are followed by processions of "nazarenos" in
long, hooded gowns, the penitents (carrying figures of the cross on
their shoulders), and women and girls dressed in black traditional Spanish
costumes carrying candles and crosses. They are accompanied by brass
bands playing soulful marching tunes which mark the step that the carriers
must follow. |
The weight of the paso depends on the size and it can take as many
as 40 men to carry. If you come to Granada in the weeks leading up to
Semana Santa you might possibly run into one of the practice sessions
and might wonder what a group of men are doing trying to carry a wooden
structure on their heads with bags of sand, etc. |
It is hard to choose between the different processions,
but perhaps my favourite two are the "Silent Procession" on
Thursday (when the street lights along the route are turned off and
the procession takes place
in absolute silence) and the "Gypsy Procession" on Wednesday
(which goes through the Albaicín/Sacromonte quarter). During
the Gypsy Procession, bonfires are lit along the route and stops are
made every
so often for "saetas" (traditional
songs to the Virgin) to be sung. |
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The route is particularly difficult because of the steep climb to the Albaicín up the Cuesta Chpaiz and even harder, at the beginning of the Sacromonte Road which is steeper and only wide enough for the procession itself. There is a frantic rush for people following the procession to get out of the way in time as it rounds the corner and picks up speed up the hill. The procession finishes at about 4 o'clock in the morning in the Sacromonte Abbey. |
