Tilting at Archives: My Adventures in Spain: Jueves Santo and La Madrugada

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Jueves Santo and La Madrugada

Jueves Santo

It was clear on Thursday morning that things had taken a turn for theslightly more serious. Normally decked to the nines regardless of theoccasion, the sevillanos took to the streets in black. Men wore blacksuits with black ties and women, also in funeral attire, donned theirhigh combs and knee-length mantillas. The day was to end with aforetold death, and the public prepared to mourn.

The first paso to leave was that of "Los Negritos." Keep in mind thesebrotherhoods originated around early modern guilds - "Los Panaderos"for instance was formed around the bread makers guild - which wereexclusive in their membership and often had elaborate race restrictions."Los Negritos" was formed as an all Black hermandad, and until themiddle part of the nineteenth century was closed to non-Blacks. This isespecially interesting when considered alongside the history of race

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Tilting at Archives: My Adventures in Spain

Tilting at Archives: My Adventures in Spain: Jueves Santo and ... http://tiltingatarchives.blogspot.ca/2010/04/jueves-santo-and-la...

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relations in the American south at about that time. It should bementioned that the KKK based its uniform around the notoriety ofSpanish nazarenos, and not the other way around. Perhaps ironically,the nazarenes of "Los Negritos" wear white capirotes (pointed hoods)atop white robes.

The exit of each paso of "Los Negritos" was met with a set of twosaetas. Originally something between a tragic serenade and aFlamenco-esque folk song, saetas were originally spontaneous andassociated with random observers bursting into improvised song at theappearance of one of the images. Though it's still possible to hearsaetas on the streets, nowadays its more common for the hermandadesand wealthy persons with prime balconies to invite singers to givepre-planned saetas. I heard several over the course of the week, butthese were the only singers I was able to catch in the act.

At David's urging, Flora and I witnessed the exit of "La Quinta Angustia"from inside the Parroquia de La Magdalena.

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Jueves Santo and La Madrugada

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2 of 12 15-04-21 8:18 PM

In observance of the symbolic death of Jesus, a rather baroquecandlelight vigil was erected around the sealed tabernacle, which itselfhad been moved from its normal place behind the main alter. Accordingto tradition, the tabernacle is then reopened Easter Sunday to revealthe resurrected "body of Christ."


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The organ played a macabre march in the background...

The last light of Jueves Santo on the roof of the Cathedral and LaGiralda...

"Las Cigarreras" in the Plaza del Triunfo...


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"La Exaltacin" in front of the municipal archive on calle AlmiranteApodaca...


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"Monte-Sin" entering Plaza Cristo de Burgos...

"El Valle" entering the Iglesia de la Anunciacin...


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...but the night was far from over...keep reading.

La Madrugada

Viernes Santo (Good Friday), the most important day of Holy Week inSeville, begins promptly at midnight. The festivities start at 12:00amwith the departure of "La Macarena" from her basilica on the north sideof town, and ends about fourteen hours later when the Virgen makesher return usually sometime after 2:00pm. Thus, the processions gothroughout the night, hence the name La Madrugada (dawn). Keep inmind that this round of pasos overlaps with the return of the sevenhermandades that make their way through the city on Jueves Santo andanother seven that make their departures sometime before "LaMacarena" returns to base on the afternoon of Viernes Santo. Thatmeans from roughly 3:00pm on Thursday to about 3:00am Saturdaymorning, there's something on average of six pasos, with thousands ofnazarenos, winding their ways through town with accompanying brassbands. Sleep is not on the order of the day!

I should also mention that the Virgen de La Macarena is Seville's mostimportant virgen, and a sort of unofficial patron saint. (Officially SantaJusta and Santa Rufina are the city's patron saints.) When I asked thethesis advisor of my friend David to explain why "She" was so important,he calmly responded with a straight face: "La Macarena is the Mother ofGod, the others are simply virgens." The mere whisper of her arrivalbrings the entire town out to the streets and, as I witnessed in person,brings grown men to cry and run after her like children - I kid you not.With roughly 2,500 nazarenos, including a large number of plumedcenturians, the entire paso takes about 90-110 minutes to pass a singlespot.


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Alongside my apartment, David and I caught a glimpse of our friendCarlos in the procession of the stoic hermandad of "El Silencio."


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Arguably the second most important paso of the evening, thehermandad of the "Esperanza de Triana" crossed the Guadalquivir atabout 4:00am on its way to the Carrera Oficial. The subject of intensedevotion on the western bank of the river, the hermandad of the Virgende Triana shares an intense rivalry with "La Macarena." It didn't take melong to realize after arriving in town last fall that I should never toconfuse the two, much less take sides in the matter.

From here we made our way to view the completely silent processionof "Jesus del Gran Poder" and "El Calvario," and then on to theConvento de Santa ngela de la Cruz to witness the Virgen de LaMacarena greet dawn to the sound of signing nuns.


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The band of Los Gaditanos...

The return of "Esperanza de Triana" to her barrio amist a shower ofrose petals and a barrage of saetas...the palio of the virgen laterperformed a dance before the shrine to the Virgen de "La Estrella,"also from the barrio of Triana, to commemorate the 450th anniversaryof the hermandad.


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Posted by Nick Saenz at 12:47 PM

Flags at half mast...you know why!

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Tilting at Archives: My Adventures in Spain: Jueves Santo and La Madrugada