Semana Santa

Semana Santa is big here. I mean really big. There are places in the world where Holy Week is a big deal but no where is it bigger than in Andalusia (my region of Spain). All the schools and the university are closed for the week as are some businesses. At a minimum, people don't work from Thursday on, if not more. Each day, there are multiple relgious processions and, on Wednesday, there was a 10 hour procession that began at 9 p.m. and finished around 7 a.m.. This included carrying the "float" of Jesucristo (for lack of a better word) up a mountain and having it serenaded by the gypsies. It is my understanding that the "floats" are carried by 5 rows of 15 people, mas o menos. They always have a statue of Jesucristo or La Virgin Maria on top so it's pretty dang heavy. Below are some videos of a procession (about a month before Semana Santa) and Stations of the Cross (during Semana Santa). The smoke you see on the Stations of the Cross video is, of course, incense. The city has smelled like it all week which I enjoy. The videos are all 15 seconds or less.