semana santa in sevilla

When I was in Sevilla last time, I remember learning about how amazing Holy Week and La Feria are in the spring in Sevilla.  At the time, I couldn’t really understand just how amazing.  When I found out that I would be student teaching in Spain during the spring semester, I knew I would have holy week off, and I knew I had to use some of that time to go back to Sevilla.  I actually ended up with 2 weeks, back to back, for spring break and Holy Week- even better than originally expected. 

Semana Santa in the south of Spain (Andalusia) is much more renowned than Semana Santa anywhere else in the world, but Seville is a destination.  I read lots of blog posts and articles about how to best see processions and experience the week, and they all mentioned how Semana Santa in Sevilla is the best in the world and nowhere else can truly compare to it.

Official Holy Week processions began on Friday before Palm Sunday.  None of these processions were major, so I didn’t arrange to see any of them.  However, the Palm Sunday or Domingo de Ramos processions were a huge deal.  Around 10 processions left from various churches all over Sevilla, starting around 1 pm and ending around 2 am!   

The Semana Santa program- this page is just for Domingo de Ramos or Palm Sunday.

The processions are lead by people (called nazarenos) wearing traditional Holy Week garb- a cloak and a hood with only eye openings that is cone-shaped and pointed on top.  The cloaks are different colors, and the colors represent different saints or virgins that are characteristic to themes of Semana Santa.  The costume is designed with the idea that only God knows the wearer’s identity, since the complete body and face is covered.  They also resemble KKK outfits, but it’s nothing to do with that and is a much more ancient (15th century) religious tradition.  They also carry long candles.  These people are men and women and boys and girls of all ages.  

"La armargura" or the grief/suffering

Following the initial round of people walking in their outfits comes the “float” of the parade.  They are called palios and are made of gold, real candles, and other expensive, hand-crafted materials.  They weigh tons, and men have the honor of carrying the floats throughout the whole procession.  It truly is an honor, and I’ve read that men will cry and cry if their float can’t leave the church because of rain.  There are also guards and men who walk outside the float to help direct the men carrying it.  As I was watching one of the processions, the director yelled at the men under the float like a motivational speaker or something.  He shouted something to them about the sacrifice they were making and how important their work is, and that Spain “has always been, and will always be, Catholic.” The float makes frequent stops along the way (some of the processions take over an hour to pass by a certain location, and they have 10-20 locations that they cross.  The walkers for each theme move really slowly, and the live music accompanies the theme and is unique to it.  

The palio of "La argmagura"

The palio of "La Estrella"

A marching band follows the float.  After the main float come the people who are carrying crosses, also dressed in the cloaks.  Finally comes another band and another float that carries the virgin/saint to end the particular procession. 

Las cruzes or the crosses 

The end of the procession "La Paz"

I watched La Paz, La Estrella, and La Armargura on Domingo de Ramos.  Each was unique, and even though I don’t know a lot about the significance and history, I could pick up on the different emotions and stories that the processions hoped to convey.  La Paz was the most beautiful, I thought, because the procession marches through Parque Maria Luis and past the Plaza de España.  I watched La Estrella pass from right beside the Cathedral in a significant Sevilla location (I also felt extremely claustrophobic here).  I hadn’t planned to seek out La Armagura, but I happened to cross it as I was walking back towards my hotel!  It was somewhat of a bonus, and I sat under the Metropol Parisol to watch it pass.  I had planned to watch El Amor, the final and main procession of Palm Sunday, but it didn’t go out because of the probability of rain- it never ended up raining, but imagine the chaos if the floats and processions were out and it did storm!

"La Paz" in Parque Maria Luisa, passing right in front of Plaza de España

Seeking out all of the locations and matching up timing to get to see the processions is like a scavenger hunt through Sevilla.  I don’t know how you could do it well if you didn’t know the city, unless you paid for tickets to watch in the private areas near the Cathedral.  I was out until about 1 am (not late at all by Sevillana standards), and there was never a moment when I felt unsafe or nervous.  It was such a fun adventure and energy to see everyone anticipating the processions- even the Sevillanas who have seen them pass for years and years in exactly the same way.  I would love to go back to Sevilla some day to see more of the Holy Week events, but I’m so glad that I had the chance to see what I did. 

I posted some of my videos on my YouTube if you want to see more!