“I hope that The Big Power can come out this time” said the taxi driver. I know Sevilla already well enough that I knew what he meant. He was referring to the Semana Santa (Holy Week) that is coming up and that the specific procession carrying a float representing “The Big Power” will not be interrupted by rain. Grown men cry during Semana Santa when it rains.

Semana Santa starts on Palm Sunday and finishes on Easter Sunday. Sevilla is not the only city in the world that has processions during this period but it is by far the best known. Tens of thousand of visitors flock to Seville each year to watch this spectacle and most of the chairs along the route are already set up weeks in advance.

At the heart of the processions lies the religious tradition to do penance for your sins. As this is an individual process, the penitents wear cloaks to mask their faced and be alone with their thoughts. By carrying an image of the Lord or the Virgin Mary through the city, you’ll be one step closer to have your sins absolved.

Each procession is organized around a church or chapel that has its own religious float and a Brotherhood (Hermandades y Cofradias de Penitencia) whose members (men andwomen) maintain the float and organize the event. All procession have to pass through the “Ruta official” and they are given a strict timetable to do so.  If they don’t stick to their time schedule the brotherhood gets fined..

Penance is not necesarily a somber occassion (but please make no sound when “Santa Marta, el Silencio” comes by) and most processions in honour of the Virgin Mary are definitely upbeat and more than one slightly intoxicated penitent or crowd members can be spotted at the end of the procession.

Semana Santa is more than anything an event for the Sevillanos themselves. The Brotherhoods are closed groups and the procession is an annual rite that is wonderful to look at as a visitor, but very hard to really feel from the outside. And that perhaps makes Semana Santa truly a magical, mysterious and spiritual event to attend.

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