Nicole King – Happy Easter everyone

Since October last year “they” have been cutting off the water in my apartment at 11pm and not turning it back on again until 6 am.  Our water comes from a well and as there isn’t an abundance of supply, it is being rationed.  This hasn’t happened to other areas in Marbella, yet, but with the little rain we have had, the probability is high.

With this in mind one would think that this week’s rain would be more than welcomed, but why does it have to be this week, Easter Week I ask myself?

I’m not worrying about the heavy rain dampening the holiday hopes of sun seekers, or an Easter egg hunt that may have to be carried out indoors, but for the multiple religious processions planned to celebrate Semana Santa.

Semana Santa means Holy Week and it is taken very religiously.  From Palm Sunday to Easter Monday the entire country “celebrates” but their customs bear no resemblance to our typical Easter antics as everything revolves around the mourning of Christ and religious ceremony.   Be prepared therefore to get some funny looks from the Spanish if wishing them a “happy Easter”.

As a historically Catholic country instead of decorating eggs, eating chocolate and thinking of baskets and bunnies, the Spanish are going to mass and taking to the streets to pay homage and penitence.   There are many elaborate religious floats (pasos) embellished with sculptures of Mary and Jesus surrounded by flowers and candles that are carried through the streets. Many of these floats have been kept by the different brotherhoods (cofradías) for centuries and are quite spectacular.

Those of us who rarely venture into Marbella or San Pedro centre could be oblivious to it all and not know it’s even happening.  For those who do go into town but have never been in Spain at Easter before, it can be quite a shock.  Even now, after all these years, I find it a bit scary and intimidating.  Apparently the approach is quite light-hearted in Andalucia, compared to Valladolid for example where barefoot penitents flagellating themselves are quite the thing.  Andalucia is far more ornate and ostentatious and certainly a sight to see, but be prepared for Klu Klux Klan style headdresses (capirote) and a lot of chanting (saetas).

This week the entire RTV Marbella crew leave the studio to cover every moment; Antonio Banderas returns home to Málaga to take part in the proceedings, it is that important to the Spanish people.

Now that it’s raining, what happens to all the plans? We can but hope that even though the prediction is for rain the entire week that it will at least take a break each day when the processions are ready to make their way through the city.

If you’re interested to join in with the Spanish Easter activities you can check out the itinerary from the following website with details of the times and routes to be taken for Marbella, Nueva Andalucia & San Pedro. www.semanasantamarbella.com