Semana Santa

From Hola.com

Easter is the time when Spain´s patron saints and virgins get dressed up and taken out for a walk around town. Andalucia seems to have the most massive turnout for these events, but they´re held all over. Unfortunately, processions were cancelled in Galicia because of rain yesterday. For more on Semana Santa in Galicia try Semana Santa en Galicia.

There are a lot of hard-working supporting groups for these processions to actually happen. From the costaleros who literally do the heavy lifting (see this video from Toledo where they have to exit and enter the church on their knees carrying the paso), the nazarenos who accompany the pasos, to the small crafts studios who produce the candles and finery.

I´ve been reading some blogs about the gorgeous embroidery used on the figures and pasos and thought I´d share. It can take up to 2 years to finalize the design and execute the embroidery. I´ve looked for courses on goldwork in Madrid, but again they seem to be in the south.

Jesus Gomez Jimenez´s blog El Arte del Bordado en Oro (in Spanish) is both stunning and informative, especially the videos.

This is a report from Seville Television including the lovely guy who´s been dressing the figure of the Virgin (La Macarena) for the last 50 years! If that´s not an Almodóvar movie character, I don´t know what is. You can see her in all her processional glory from about 3 minutes in.



Also Elloy Tellez has a great blog (in Spanish) where you can see the original design and then execution. And not just embroidery - crosses, banners, jewelry too!