Semana Santa - Week of The Saints... 02 - 08 April

I got some facts about the Semana Santa (Week of Saints) processions wrong in my last notes. The processions usually have two tronos (thrones) which are platforms on which statues and scenes are placed. One usually has Jesus on the cross, the platform painted in gold and leads the procession and is followed – after various bands or groups of ladies in black – by one with The Virgin Mary, the platform painted in silver. One procession I saw only had one trono which featured Mary holding Jesus after being taken down from the cross. The processions start from various churches around the city with the first usually starting about 8am and the last returning to its church between 3am and 5am. There are various routes but they all pass a particular important point.

Ronda has a population of about 35,000 and the tronos are carried by up to 120 penitents. The platforms are lifted or put down (every 20 or 30 yards) based on signals given by a bell – and shouts from the leader. The speed of the march of the penitents is controlled by drum beat. After their procession the tronos are returned to their church where they stay on display for the rest of the year. For the procession they are adorned with many flowers.

Most churches, in Ronda have steps covered at this time by fairly steep ramps. Getting the platforms safely in and out is a miracle in itself. There are also the steep hills to contend with.

On Thursday I met with three friends who were staying on the coast at Elviria. They also came up to Ronda on Monday and we wandered round the old and very old areas including taking a look at the Arab baths. We went into Malaga on Thursday night and watched two of the processions there. There were 150,000 plus people on the streets. In Malaga, at least the streets are comparatively flat. The tronos are on a larger scale and are carried by up to 260 penitents! Apparantly Antonio Banderas who is from Malaga, always returns for Semana Santa and takes part in carrying one of the platforms. As well as brass and drum bands there was also a large involvement by crack military regiments.

The largest processions and tronos are in Seville which is the capital of Andalucia. All of these processions are carried out with such serious but joyous devotion on the part of those watching as well as participating that it is difficult for even a miserable cynical old goat such as myself not to be moved.

On the coast on Friday morning, the sky was blue. Back in Ronda it was about 7c and showery. I watched two more processions. The second was from a church close to where I am living. There are no steep steps but the lane is narrow and getting the platforms out while turning was a feat in itself. They proceeded down the steep lane and half an hour later it began to pour. They did not attempt to cover them (as with the Sunday procession) instead the penitents, not the platforms, turned and marched quickly – almost running back. A years’ preparation gone. I went back half an hour later and a huge roll of tissue paper was being used to dry off the platforms.

On Sunday having been told the streets close by were closed from 8am I turned up at the church of the Espiritu Santu on the dot. The procession left at 10:30! The Virgin Mary platform was carried by an all female group - 66 in all. I followed the entire procession. It finished at a church - not the one from which it started - half way up the hill to my place just before 5pm.

Bright blue skies but not too warm  - ideal!

On Saturday afternoon I went to see Deportivo Ronda play CD Nerja. ‘Our’ centre forward (and captain) looked somewhat like Kenny Burns –  as he is now, not as in his mid seventies hey day and was about as mobile – probably as he is now, not as he was then. Nevertheless ‘Kenny’ scored the equaliser before being substituted and the game finished 1-1. Kenny Burns played centre forward and centre half for Birmingham City before moving on and winning two European Cup medals under Brian Clough at Nottingham Forest. Kenny was one of the game’s real characters and is rightly considered a Birmingham City icon.

I found some humour just before the game when a family of six took seats in front of me. The six included three very attractive young ladies. The madre (mother) had a roll of tissue and wiped the seats. They sat down and then all moved one to the right, with the madre sitting in a seat that had not been  cleaned – some sort of pre-match ritual maybe. One of the girls who was wearing white jeans and a white coat took out a newspaper from her bag, placed it on the seat and sat on that. I have bought that paper and tried to read it. The print quality is about what the Daily Mail used to be. I suspect the headlines were imprinted across her posterior…….. I didn’t check though.