Viernes Santo.... Good Friday in Alhaurín El Grande by Marion Bonelli our Alhaurin el Grande Columnist

Viernes Santo.... Good Friday in Alhaurín El Grande... not sure standing there if its organised chaos or even worse that everyone including me does not know whats happening next or from which direction anyone may appear... at any time! Crowds of men women and children, old and young everyone out, talking and eating sun flower seeds, the husks covering everywhere under foot, everyone trying to out-shout the next person and with everyone talking at the same time.... wonderful! and no sense of worry of what ifs, in lots of cities of the world this many peoples together would be cause for concern of fighting or thieving, there was one policemen from our viewpoint and he was happily chatting with anyone who came by! 


The small shop near us was open for business of sweets and tobacco, and the kiosks were 30 deep in waiting children for crisps and sun flower seeds, ice-cream and drinks.  The balloon seller slowly making his way through the people with huge helium balloons of zebra! dalmatian dogs! fish! or racing cars??  This year I noticed sponge bob square pants wasn't there...

I remember seeing him fly off into the deep blue yonder last year just as the celebrations began!

We, as usual raced from one place to another to get 'the best spot', we even spent some time back home on our own balcon, this year our street was for resting only, including on our door step! the goat made use also of the street! and the smell of incense filled our house....

Then we realised to get the full benefit we needed to get down to the lower road and squeezed through the crowds near Plaza Alta to gain the best access... and there the street was empty!


In time along came the full parade once more, small repeat of who we had already seen and then Herod's men urging Jesus on, the weight of the cross being supported already by a man from the crowd and they whipped and shouted at Jesus, bringing him continually to his knees, bare foot and this year clothed in a robe, before if I remember correctly he only wore a loin cloth!


Behind him came Mary with Mary Magdalene and two beautiful angels with the cutest ringlets i have ever seen, (i saw one of the 'angels' in town this morning, her hair caught up in a hairnet!)

The goat again! this time stopping and for a while rammed the legs of his temporary shepherd! hope he had shin guards on!

The Cofradías (Brotherhoods), the Nazarenos procession through it all, old and young, bare foot or with sandals, their tall hoods masking their faces... these people in this regalia makes you feel like you have gone back in time a couple of centuries at least!  And I think seeing them then would have been very frightening!  Some of these though were just tiny little girls of about 4 or 5, holding silver staffs, and so unsure of when to walk and when to stop, although a head (man?) kept them fully informed at all times as to the whens and where's!

Then the  Brotherhoods who also carried the beautiful and ornate carriage or float of the Passion - Jesus carrying the cross, this is held aloft by the Costaleros (float carriers), this year there were four rows of thirty men, 120 in all!  and the same for the float of the virgin, only this was held by 120 young women.... amazing thing to see these held high and as they walked... the side to side motion! The statues themselves so grand and the living candle flames and fresh flowers adorned them both.

Another man with a huge and very heavy looking crucifix and corpus symbol on, and a woman with what looked like the Shroud of Turin...



A band came through too, of course, mainly a drumming band fantastic beat that went right through to your core, then the marching  beginning with men, following by young men, followed by boys and then younger boys still!

All doing the same march, with their guns held and then thrown and caught, axes or shovels on their backs...

We had joined the procession at about 8pm and by now it was 11.30, and we went home... the crucifiction we missed this year, the last one we saw, year before last was so unbelievable i am sure this would have been the same, although a tremendous thing happened for us, just as Jesus was being raised up on the cross, his wrists tied to the wood, as the crowd hushed in this sight the rain began, large drops like tears which were lit by the camera flashes like stars.... even if your not religious this really was a sight to see and a thing to be remembered with feeling.