more facts about semana santa

Spain celebrates Easter Week much more than most European countries. During the whole week of Semana Santa, (Holy Week), street processions are organised in most Spanish towns each evening, from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday.
People carry statues of saints around on floats or wooden platforms. This creates and an atmosphere of mourning, which can seem quite oppressive to onlookers. The Easter week processions end with Easter Sunday,is a day full of light and colour and when church and cathedral bells are heard ringing throughout the country.

In some of the processions, marchers wear clothes reminiscent of the Ku Klux Klan. In fact, their clothes are meant to depict the Nazareños, people from Nazareth. The religious fraternities and brotherhoods are responsible for carrying the statues and organizing the penitents and musicians. The Nazareños follow the people who carry the floats bearing the sculptures and models of Biblical scenes.

The people who carry the weight of the floats are called "costaleros" and are expected to carry these "thrones" with solemnity and grace. They use a small cushion, "costal" to protect themselves from getting sores from the wood rubbing against their skin during the long processions.

The most famous Easter celebrations are held in various Andalusian towns.