A description of life in the village of Pruna, nestled in the Andalusian mountains of Seville

Semana Santa – Easter Week

Holy Week, Semana Santa, in Pruna is an event that literally transforms the village. Processions of elaborately decorated floats carried through the streets in hours of back breaking glory. The girls and women all dress as widows in black, with the classic Mantilla (black veils), the boys and men dress as executioners, in the the pointy hats (think klu klux klan, who stole the outfit). There are marching bands that accompany the processions, shrilly building up the emotion.

It is an amazing experience, and a great time to come to Pruna if you want to imbibe some deeply-held traditions that seem have less to do with religion than with the death of a son at the hands of authority. You will experience some real emotions.

The first time I attended this event I was at the crossroads were the float carrying Christ to the crucifixion was being carried, it came to the crossroad and at that junction there was a float of Mary, his mother, then, the 36 men who were carrying the figure of Christ knelt in order to give the effect of Christ bowing to his Mother while on the way to his death, the trumpets shrilled, the people sighed en masse, I burst into tears. That is what you experience.

Pruna is one of the few remaining villages that still performs the ritual Descent the Cross, a reconstruction of the removal of Christ's dead body from the cross. For this event a street is blocked off with a big screen on which is depicted mass crucifixions, amid sounds of thunder and lightening flashes the body is taken down and placed on a bier for removal. To get to the area of this descension you have to walk down a street that has had all its street lights turned off and on every balcony there is a flaming torch to give the scene a Gothic splendour.