Semana Santa – Festival in Downtown Madrid

Semana Santa in Madrid - Courtesy www.gomadrid.com

Semana Santa, the Spanish name for Easter, occurs usually in the last week of March. It is held in the week leading up to Easter Sunday. Local churches organize ornately decorated floats depicting the Passion of Christ into the city cathedral.

Celebrated with traditional piety all over Spain, Madrid makes for an attractive destination. The festivities in Madrid are among the most elaborate. Starting from Palm Sunday until Easter Sunday series of processions with hooded penitents move about to the piercing wail of the Saeta - love song to the Virgin or Christ. You also see Pasos or heavy floats bearing images of the Virgin or Christ on display.

Traditions regarding Semana Santa date back to the 16th century when the Church decided to present the story of the Passion of Christ in a way that the layperson could understand. Which is why series of processions through the streets depict scenes from the story of the fall and rise again of Jesus Christ.

Madrid sees many processions to mark the occasion. Both Holy Thursday and Good Friday of Holy Week are official holidays. It is typical to see processions from many churches with religious statues carried by local people. Statues depicting various scenes from Christ’s life to the accompaniment of drums and bands are paraded around. .

Madrid has processions all over the city from Thursday to Saturday. The best area to view processions is in and around the Plaza Mayor. Barely 0.9 kilometer from Downtown Madrid you can get here in flat 2 minutes. The strange spectacle of people dressed up in what appears to be Klu-Klux-Klan robes might look macabre! They are only actually people looking for penitence.