Fodor's Travel Talk Forums - Semana Santa questions

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Semana Santa questions

I'll be in Sevilla for Semana Santa this year and have a couple of questions: 1) I have read that people dress up during this time and on Thursday the local women wear black and it is considered disrespectful to wear t shirts and jeans. Is this correct? I want to be comfortable but I don't want to show disrespect. 2) Usually I don't bring my camcorder with me on trips. But I'm wondering if a camcorder would better capture the spirit of the events than a regular camera? And would it be appropriate to bring one? Thanks in advance for your help.

As Santa Semana is a very serious religious time, I would not wear t-shirt and jeans nor would I take a camcorder. That's just my opinion. First, dark colored simple slacks or skirt and top are just as comfortable, and... I would urge and encourage you to experience what you are seeing and not try to "capture" it for review later. Meant most kindly.

Semana Santa (Holy Week) is one of the most representative events of life and culture in Andalucia to experience. Full of passion, tradition, devotion, and showmanship, watching the processions is a lesson in Spanish history on its own. I would definitely dressed conservately, this is one of those events where blending in could only enhance the experience. By all means, record it/video it. Don't spend all your time fiddling with the camera, but capture some of the sounds and scenes for later viewing and enjoyment. It would be better if you arrange doing some of the videotaping from high up on to the street. I never used to bring a video camera to my vacations, until my husband insisted on taking one with us on a 1999 trip to Spain and Portugal. We captured sights, sounds, laughs, scenery and so many beautiful memories. My husband got really sick later on that year and that was the last time he visited Europe. I treasured those tapes now. Have a wonderful time!

CathyM, Just this week I asked a friend from Utrera (Seville province) if would be de rigueur to wear black, and she indicated that it wouldn't, although to err on the conservative, a bit more dressy side would be appropriate. I would definitely not consider wearing a t shirt and jeans. What I recall from our last Semana Santa visit and what I expect to see is sevillanos dressed up, particularly when the week reaches its fever pitch on Maundy Thursday evening and Good Friday, and the children, as always, will be impeccably dressed, in their finest, I think. I also expect to see men associated with the brotherhoods wearing blue suits and many Seville women wearing their traditional black lace mantillas. I always travel with black crepe dress trousers and silk blouse or tailored jacket, and I'll dress up rather than go casual. As for the video camera, we're taking ours and will be filming, but discreetly. We may have to fortunate opportunity to hear and see a "saeta" performed from a balcony and will want to catch it on tape. A "saeta" is a spontaneous outburst of song, a deep, intense flamenco routed burst of emotion, sung a capella, and sung by one person, usually a woman from a balcony, as I've experienced, as the "paso" of the Virgen or Christ comes by. If you have a chance to witness this, I think you'll definitely want to record it as a unique memory of Holy Week in Seville. Plus, as the celebrated Virgen de la Macarena procession comes by during the wee, wee hrs. of the "madrugá" of Good Friday, you'll hear many exuberant outbursts of praise and love (¡Ay, guapa! ¡Ay, hermosa!) for this much venerated image. All the more reason to try to capture this on film.

I would absolutely bring the video camera! This is just the sort of thing it is made for since the sounds you capture will be just as important as what you will see. I was just in Spain and had a camcorder and a still camera. As a general rule, I used the camcorder for places too big to get still photo (by panning around the scene) and for things that were active such as a flamenco show and street performers. You won't regret having this on video, and when you show it to people they'll really have a feeling for what it's like there. Of course, I still took a lot of still pictures. By the end of my trip I got pretty good at taking picture with my camera while holding my camcorder at the same time (though not recording at the time). Anne

Make that "flamenco rooted" (failed to consult my friend Mr. Spellcheck). According to the schedule from the ABC, the Virgen de la Macarena will depart from the basilica on Good Friday morning at 12:30 a.m. , arriving at pedestrian Calle Sierpes at 3:15 a.m., reach the cathedral at 4:15 a.m. and finally returned home to her basilica at 1:30 p.m. We're prepared to stay up round the clock Maundy Thursday-Good Friday. Sat. will be for sleep!

Thanks everyone! I'll definately bring my video camera (to film discretely) and bring some outfits that are a bit on the dressier side. Olga and Maribel - looking forward to meeting up with you that week.