The elaborate Holy Week processions in Spain are mainly for Tourists.
No, processions, although they attract tourists, are not simply tourist events, and many brotherhoods and processions have centuries of tradition. There are important brotherhoods and their sculptures that have been in procession since the 17th century. In a country like Spain where truly practicing Catholics are becoming fewer and fewer, for many people the processions and events of Holy Week have a historical and cultural component, and many places have their own traditions. Even in small villages, people take out the Christs and virgins from their churches and make small processions these days.
Obviously now they are also a tourist attraction, and there are cities like Madrid that had lost these traditions and are recovering them, and creating new tourist attractions also has an influence.
The Christ carried by the Legion in Malaga in the Malaga procession is the work of Pedro de Mena in the 17th century and one of the most recognized works of the Spanish Baroque. In the city of Valladolid there are sculptural groups by Gregorio Fernández, from that same period that were already designed for procession and that the rest of the year are exhibited in the National Museum of Sculpture. In Murcia the Salcillo sculptures have been in procession since the 18th century.
In Spain during Holy Week there are thousands of events, processions, historical representations, drums... in large cities and small towns, they are part of the tradition and culture of each city, and although now they have more impact due to tourism, they have decades or centuries of history.
King Juan Carlos and his daughter, Infanta Elena, appear in the photos during a day of Mass at the "Abraham Family House" in Abu Dhabi
Chic consigue en exclusiva las fotografías del rey emérito en Abu Dabi, visitando la Casa Abraham.
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