Spring creeps into the country and Easter is just around the corner. Easter in Catalonia is a feast full of light and dark – with music, colors and great emotions. A spectacle for the senses between grief, tradition, horror and party. Easter is the most important and oldest festival of Christians. The resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is a symbol of the victory of life over death. Good Friday commemorate Catholics and Protestants of the crucifixion of Jesus. In Spain, the nocturnal Easter processions take place in many places.
Dancing skeletons at midnight
A gentle shudder arises when on Good Friday the long hoods at Semana Santa through the medieval streets of Girona pull. It gets particularly scary in the hinterland of the Costa Brava on Maundy Thursday at midnight in Verges. You meet for one of the oldest processions in the country – the dance of death of Verges. Documented for the first time around 1666. In the flickering light of the torches, this whimsical midnight staging slowly strides through the small medieval town of Verges every year. Five dancing skeletons move to the beat of the timpani. The public interest is great. Then there is a celebration. The bars and pubs in town are crowded all night long.
The magic of the night
The ritual of the penitents is part of the church at Easter like the Amen.
eternal damnation? atonement without words? Repent in powerful images? As a traditional staging or today’s reality? The processions of the Semana Santa raise some questions. Effective and a little scary, attractive and mysterious at the same time – the magic of the nocturnal parades is undisputed. darkness and light. Medieval scenery. expectant crowds. powerful pictures.
Saints as superstars
Paso for Paso glides past us year after year in Girona. Above all the crucified, followed by Virgin Mary. The life-size hand-carved figures framed magnificent flower decorations. Beguiling floral scent mixed with incense tickles our noses. It is filmed, flashed, photographed. In the age of Instagram and Facebook, everyone is there when the saints leave the churches and take a bath in the crowd. A touch of superstar feeling blows through the night. In the 21st century, the saints are digitized millions of times into the sea of data. The processions of the Semana Santa are still an expressionist event where you have to be there live! Grief and despair coupled with enjoyment and joie de vivre – the emotions are never closer together. Even if you don’t believe in redemption and resurrection yourself, you now get an idea of eternity.
Colorful hoodies roam the city
In Girona, the gates of the mighty portal of the cathedral on Good Friday around 10 p.m. open. The hooded men slowly walk down the wide steps to the large square in front of the cathedral, according to their brotherhoods – the confraries – the wide steps. Here the procession and the straps shoulders Paso to Paso in front of the impressive backdrop of the mighty church building.
The “Semana Santa” is Al Final not a deadly serious archaic matter of faith: the colorful crowd of onlookers on the edge of the alleys is in a good mood. Late at night, Semana Santa is also a top-class street festival. The cafes and bars are very busy; You celebrate exuberantly. Finding a free table in a street cafe needs luck. Midnight is long gone when we finally have our first cava tingle in the glass. Salud and have a nice Easter everyone!
