Semana Santa (Holy Week) In Cadiz, Spain

We have the privilege of living only 30 minutes away from a town that claims to be one of the oldest inhabited towns in Europe: Cadiz, Spain.  If you haven't heard of Cadiz, it's a pretty neat place to explore for a day.  It was founded by the Phoenicians roughly 3,000 years ago and is full of adorable winding streets, good food, beautiful (but crowded) beaches, ancient Roman Ruins and so much culture!

Last week we trekked over to experience Semana Santa - Holy Week.  Being from the United States, I hadn't ever really celebrated Holy Week before moving to Spain (besides the occasional Catholic mass for Ash Wednesday and Easter).  But here they go all out!  The Sunday before Easter they begin Processionals through the towns with various scenes from Jesus' death and resurrection.  They continue to put on processions every night of the week until Easter Sunday.  The typical outfits that are worn by people in these processions are quite terrifying if you're not used to them - they honestly look like the KKK outfits but more colorful depending on the day.  But once you get over the shock factor it's easy to appreciate the dedication that these Spaniards have to their religious beliefs.  The streets are filled with people (in their finest European outfits of course) crowding around to awe at the processionals- lively with bands, floats (or "trono" in Spanish), flags, and candles.

What's even more incredible is that these floats are carried by people!  Instead of having them motorized like so many of ours in the States, you can see the rows of feet underneath holding these extremely ornate, surely incredibly heavy, beautiful works of art up.  That being said, you can imagine how slow these processionals move!

If you ever have the opportunity to see a processional, we highly recommend it!

You thought I was kidding about the outfits right?  Nope!

I love these women's black lace outfits!  Check out how people have decorated their balconies with banners and palm fronds.  

The Virgin Mary Trono being carried to the Cathedral.