LENT, HOLY WEEK and EASTER IN SPAIN by Cristina Morón and Antonio Mateo

What’s Easter?

Easter is a Christian feast and holiday celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ on the third day after his crucifixion at Calvary as described in the New Testament. Easter is preceded by Lent, a forty-day period of fasting, prayer, and penance. The last week of Lent is called Holy Week.

What’s Easter?

Easter is followed by a fifty-day period called the Easter Season, ending with Pentecost Sunday. The First Council of Nicaea established the date of Easter as the first Sunday after the full moon (the Paschal Full Moon) following the northern hemisphere's vernal equinox.

The date of Easter usually varies between 22 March and 25 April.

Theological significance

The New Testament teaches that the resurrection of Jesus, which Easter celebrates, is a foundation of the Christian faith. The resurrection established Jesus as the powerful Son of God.

Holy Week in Spain

Spain celebrates the Holy Week much more than most European countries. During the Holy Week, street processions are organised in most Spanish towns each evening, from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday. Here the virgin of “La Pollinica”, a

typical throne of Málaga

Holy Week in SpainPeople carry statues of saints,

decorated with special banners and flowers, on wooden platforms, in an atmosphere of mourning - which can seem quite oppressive to onlookers. The Holy Week processions end with Easter Sunday, a day full of light and colour when church and cathedral bells are heard ringing throughout the country.

NazarenosIn some of the processions,

marchers wear clothes which are meant to depict the Nazarenos, people from Nazareth. The religious fraternities and brotherhoods are responsable for carrying the statues and organising the penitents and musicians. The Nazarenos follow the people who carry the floats bearing sculptures and models of biblical scenes.

Thrones

Here is another trhone called “La Cena” in Málaga.

Holy Week in Spain

The people who carry the weight of the floats are called "costaleros" and are expected to carry these "thrones" with solemnity and grace. They use a small cushion ("costal") to protect themselves from getting sores from the wood rubbing against their skin during the long processions.

Holy Week in Málaga

Holy Week Processions in Málaga

Holy Week Processions in Málaga

Typicals thrones of Andalucía

El Cautivo La Macarena

LENT AND EASTER FOODABSTINENCEThis is a period of abstinence: Catholic people won´t eat meat during Lent and the Holy Week.That is the reason why Easter meals and cakes are remarkable for being tasteful and enriched with proteins.

POTAJES AND TORRIJAS

THE END