Already planning what to do in Easter? Don't miss this...

The days are going by and Easter is approaching, which means that you are surely preparing your vacations and your trips!

As Paco always tells you, Spain is a secular country, our Constitution says so, but the Catholic tradition has a lot of weight in our culture, even for non-believers. During Holy Week (mainly  from Holy Thursday to Easter Sunday), all cities continue to celebrate "processions": some spectacular parades where believers carry very heavy thrones called "pasos" on their shoulders, with statues of Jesus Christ, the Virgin, some saints...representing the passion of Christ. 

The most famous processions are those in Andalusia, where people in the street sing breathtaking songs called "saetas", but there are others which are also very special, for example in Cuenca (in Madrid they are more humble, but they also have their charm). And it's not all religion and spirituality, there is also a festive mood and good food without meat involved as well ("torrijas", "pestiños", "buñuelos de bacalao", "patatas a la importancia", "sopa de ajo", and "potaje de garbanzos", for instance).

Two pieces of advice: First, if you don't like crowds, don't go, it can be very overwhelming (check out the video below). But if if you want to experience it (and I promise it is worth it), book your train tickets and hotels as soon as possible, because many people want to go.

Finally, don't be scared by the clothes of the hooded people that appear in the video: No, they are not from the Ku Kux Klan :-) Most of people say the origin of that hat (the "capirote") dates back to the 15th century during the time of the Holy Inquisition, when similar hats (the "corozas") were placed on people convicted by the Holy Court. However, there are mentions of hats with the same shape in previous documents. Anyway, it has a strong penitential meaning and the religious brotherhoods of Seville decided to adopt it around the 17th century for their processions. The hood serves to hide the face and keep the identity of the penitent, who feels honored carrying the "paso" and suffering as Jesus Christ. Please check out the video, it is really impressive!

Good week and good luck with the last exams!