Today is the last day in Semana Santa and unfortunately, due to the rain, I wasn't able to see any processions. For those who don't know about Semana Santa in Sevilla, here are a little facts to clue you in on this very impressing (and very interesting) way to celebrate Semana Santa.
*Semana Santa lasts from Palm Sunday - Easter Sunday
*There are processions throughout the whole week and Sevilla follows a very strict schedule on when the churches are allowed to have their procession. Each procession has a time slot and no float is ever repeated. If they miss their scheduled time for some reason, they will not be allowed to do their procession.
*What do these processions consist of? They basically look like big parade floats and they contain the oldest religious relics in the city. Some relics date back to the 14th and 15th century. Most of the relics contain pure gold and silver and because of their age and value, they are not allowed to do the procession in the rain.
*One of the most interesting aspects about Semana Santa... they have these men called "Nazarenos". To us, they look straight up from the KKK. A white robe and everything and they are very scary. Sometimes they wear black, which is even scarier. They don't even talk... we tried saying "hola" to one and he didn't respond. In reality, they are men that sign us to walk with the processions and they sign up and pay to join the Nazareno Brotherhood. Each processions has about 2,000-5,000 Nazarenos walking with their float.. that's a lot of people.
*Never comment on how the Nazarenos appear scary to a real Spaniard.... they'll take it as an insult.
*The religious relics are not driving around but rather walked around. Men get under the floats and carry them throughout the city.
Here's a video on last year's Semana Santa... this will give you a good idea of what they look like.
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