Semana Santa Part 2

Like the April fair, Semana Santa (holy week/easter) has been one of the most important celebrations in Seville since centuries.The Cofradías (Brotherhoods or Fraternities) process in penitence through the (many narrow) streets of the city, from their church to the Cathedral and back, taking the shortest possible route, as decreed in the rule of the ordinances by Cardenal Niño de Guevara in the 17th century.

Most brotherhoods carry two floats: a float with a Christ, representing the distinct stages of the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christand a float with a Dolorosa (Mary the Virgin in pain) under a canopy.Some brotherhoods even carry three floats, like the so-called: El Amor, La Cena, San Benito, or la Trinidad, others have just one like Santa Marta, La Quinta Angustia, la Soledad de San Buenaventura, or la Soledad de San Lorenzo.Resuming, in the eight days of Semana Santa, a total of 57 brotherhoods, carry their 116 floats from their church to the Cathedral and back, in the company of around 60,000 brothers participating in their different appearances:
Nazarenos (Nazarenes)
Penitents
Costaleros (float carriers)
Acolytes

The number of spectators may rise up to the impressing number of one million people during the most important moments of Semana Santa in Seville: the early morning of Good Friday which is when the brotherhoods of el Silencio, el Gran Poder, La Macarena, El Calvario, La Esperanza de Triana and los Gitanos set off for their processional penitence to the Cathedral.

I got this info from this site..
http://www.sol.com/en/modulo.asp?IdProvincia=41&IdContenido=169&IdPagina=2

I would not be surprised if there were 1 million people here last night. Yesterday, was the early morning of Good Friday and I saw ¨La Esperanza de Triana¨ Can I just say amazing? I didn´t get home until 630 a.m. The streets are VERY narrow and you go and wait for about 2 hours where the float is going to pass by. We were located on a st. corner and they usually turn the lights off so you can see the candles better and it´s much prettier. Well, all of the sudden these spotlights turned on and these people were throwing flower pedals onto the float from their balconies..thousands and thousands of flower petals. It was raining roses...it was breathtaking. Then, when the float passes by everyone is silent. 1 million people..silent. Hard to believe, but true.

It just seems to cheapen it when I write it down in words. It´s amazing and I guarantee you you´ve never seen anything like it.