Semana Santa

Holy week, or Semana Santa, is a big deal in Spain. Although not a lot of people go to mass every week, it seems like everyone goes to at least one procession during Semana Santa. There were plenty of processions to choose from in Salamanca. Starting the Sunday before Easter, there was at least one procession every day and multiple processions a day towards the end of the week. They started from different churches/cathedrals and took place all times of the day and night. Families lined up for the processions ahead of time like we would for a parade in the US (unfortunately none of the priests threw out candy).

Processions consisted of priests, fancy costumes (yes, some processions had the [in]famous KKK-looking gowns), bands, and the highlight of processions: one or more imágenes. An imagen is giant float carried by a group of people that has a depiction on it such as Jesus on the cross or the Virgin Mary. Some of are hundreds of years old and weigh up to 1000 kilos (~2000 lbs).

Here's some pictures from a procession Sunday afternoon:

the imagen

The people carrying it are hidden by the clothe.

It was raining Thursday night, so they canceled the procession that was supposed to cross the old Roman bridge. They still brought the imágenes right outside the church for people to see, though.

torrija, a traditional dish served during Semana Santa (It's like french toast).

I was also talked into staying up for the 5:30 am procession Friday morning. It was going to be a huge procession with 4 imágenes that left from San Esteban, one of the big cathedrals in Salamanca. While we were waiting, I had some torrija, a french-toast-like dish traditionally served during Semana Santa. It was raining off & on, so they just carried the imágenes to the door of San Esteban for people to admire.