We spent Holy Week in Sevilla, Spain. Holy Week ends the day of Easter.  During Holy Week, the are a lot of religious processions (which start nine days before Easter) and people watching them. In the processions, Nazarenos walk along the streets. Nazarenos are members of church brotherhoods. (See Lucy’s fashion page for information about their capirotes.) Some Nazarenos carried candles, some carried crosses and some carried staffs. Each group had one statue of Jesus near the middle of the procession and one statue of the Virgin Mary near the end. There is also a tradition that children make a ball of wax. To do that, you first have to make a ball out of tin foil. Then you stand along the procession and ask the Nazarenos for wax from their candles. The wax covers the tin foil, and your ball gets bigger and bigger. The Nazarenos that are silent do not give you wax. The processions start at different times. We watched many including one called the Madrugá from 2 a.m. to 6 a.m.

Nazarenos

carrying crosses

getting wax from Nazareno

Holy Week procession

We watched part of the afternoon procession with our friends from school, the Wesoloskis, who came during spring break. They taught us how to make the wax balls.  The Ortegas, another family from school, marched in the processions, and they said hello to us. The next day we watched the processions from the Ortegas’ balcony. To get to their balcony, we had to walk in the middle of the procession. That night we went downstairs and collected more wax. Some of the Nazarenos don’t give wax, but sometimes they give cards with pictures of Mary or Jesus, and others give out candy.

balcony view

balls of wax, cards, candy

balcony view of Roman centurions

My two favorite parts of the processions were the Roman soldiers because of their feathered helmets and the brotherhoods that wore bright-colored capirotes (instead of white, black, dark green and dark purple).

A warm and sincere thank you to the Ortega family for their great hospitality and for teaching us so much and to the Wesoloski family for bringing so many things from home and for sharing their washer/dryer.  It was wonderful spending time with all of you.

And new since last time we posted:

• Lucy’s information on capirotes (the conical hats that the Nazarenos wear)
• Nati’s treats page–a must-see:  El Turrón y the Poop
• Nati’s post on the euro in Spain
• More favorite photos (including girls making a paella and swinging on a “paella” swing)
• More virtual souvenirs (cockroach necklace and many Gaudí-inspired items)