Madrid Holy Week

Spanish Penitents

Penitents wear gowns and conical hoods – a tradition that was meant to maintain their anonymity – for the haunting processions as they carry life-size effigies of Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mary through city streets accompanied by dramatic drum beats and mournful music.

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Madrid Holy Procession

The Easter celebrations in Madrid during Semana Santa, or Holy Week, are obviously focussed mostly around several different religious processions, although anybody who has seen the fervent worship that goes on with the processions in Seville at this time will discover the more sombre character of the Madrileños.Since the 15th century Madrid has celebrated the events described in the New Testament regarding the death, crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ with traditional “pasos”. These are basically religious icons, taken from their normal resting places in churches around the city and paraded through the streets on the shoulders of the “costaleros”, normally young men who feel deeply privileged to struggle under the immense weight of religious statues, balancing sometimes precariously aboard heavy platforms. In Madrid there are around 20 of these religious processions over the days before Easter Sunday.

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