These are great - thanks for sharing!

Could you put a link in your trip report also and a link in this thread to the trip report?

Sure. Most of these are of Holy Week in Málaga, but I may add more pics in later.


https://picasaweb.google.com/109209948473369806893/Spain2012?authkey=Gv1sRgCICWqvOpnrK-LA#5738060709526499954

Abso-b;ooming-lutely wonderful. I had the same opportunity to see these in Madrid but not as beautiful or extensive as the Malaga event that you experienced. Yhis is a once in a lifetime for north Americans..thanks for sharing.

Thanks for sharing! i enjoyed them.

I love this stuff and I hope to see it sometime but those outfits are creepy. They make me think of the horrible Spanish Inquisition.

I didn't think of the Inquisition when I was watching the processions.

My neighbor girl thought the robes were ominous, too, but the processions are really very family oriented, with little children dressed in the colors of the family cofradia or running up to the Nazarenos to have wax poured onto their balls of wax. A few little ones were in strollers.

I understand that in other parts of the country, Semana Santa is more solemn, but in Andalusia, it's a celebration of culture. It was of great interest in Málaga that Antonio Banderas (who'd been born there) had cleared his schedule so that he could be there for the whole week. I understand that it is written in his film contracts that he be free to go to Málaga for Semana Santa.

Seeing children reach out to shake the hands of the Nazarenos also does a lot to humanize them. One can see that many of those in the processions are women or young people.

Spain has had a violent history, with all the invasions from various peoples, culminating in the terrible Spanish Civil War in the 1930's. I'm much more likely to think of that time than of things that happened so long ago.

Anyway, the Semana Santa experience is unforgettable.

I'm sure it must be wonderful to see in person. I can't stop looking at the links on u-tube.

Here's the link to my trip report. I think....,

http://www.fodors.com/community/europe/strange-trip-report-on-my-trip-to-spain.cfm

“…but the processions are really very family oriented, with little children dressed in the colors of the family cofradia…”

Thanks, Peg, for the great pics of Semana Santa. I agree that being there makes one realize how family orientated this event is. And don’t the Spaniards dress well for the Holy Week events?

They are a very proud people. I happened to be in Seville for Holy Week in 2000. It remains one of my most treasured travel memories.

At that time Spain was in an economic assent which has unfortunately reversed itself with unemployment and such in recent years.