Semana Santa en Málaga.

Holy Week in Spain is a huge deal! Literally everything shuts down and the streets are filled with people coming out of the woodwork! It was awesome to be here to experience this part of the Spanish culture. Though I'm glad it's over :)

Holy Week is all about the processions. Some even start the week before. Different groups within the church are responsible for the different processions. Each one includes two "tronos", one of Mary and one of Jesus. They are carried down the street by men (and I did see a few women!) resting the bars on their shoulders. They march together to the rhythm of a drum, and the "trono" sways down the street. Because it is so heavy, the procession stops every 100 feet or so to give the men a break. This means the processions lasts forever!

This is a procession that went down my street, so I was able to watch it from the balcony! It was the most enjoyable procession that I saw (and the only one that I saw in entirety) because I didn't have to push through the crowds! This is the "trono" of Jesus.

Both the picture above and below show the "trono" of Mary. All of the "tronos" are extravagant and beautiful.

This is not the Ku Klux Klan.

These outfits apparently were worn within the Catholic Church before the Ku Klux Klan came into being and they stole the look to ironically represent their group. (Or so I read online)

I still think it looks freaky.

Also, this boy is gathering wax from the man's candle to form a wax ball. I saw a lot of the kids doing this. I think that would be my favorite part of the week!

For the Spaniards, this is a very special week. They love the processions and enjoy watching as many of them as they can. There are multiple processions every day of the week and some last well into the night. Even my host mom was out until 2:30am multiple nights during the week, and she is in her 70's! For me, it was a strange week. There were TOO many people everywhere I went. I felt like after seeing one procession, or even one part of one, I had seen it all. I was told more than once that this wasn't true because they are all very distinct. The floats are different, the music is different, the marching pattern is different. I tried to research more about it, but wasn't able to find answers to many of my questions.

I just hope that Christ was present in the streets of Málaga during this week. People who don't consider themselves Catholic at all enjoy the tradition that is Semana Santa, but I pray that more people were able to understand the true meaning of the week. Jesus Christ gave His life on the cross and died to pay the debt of our sin, so we may known Him personally and spend eternity in heaven with him. That is what makes Holy Week so special and so important.