The sound of drums beating among the streets, cornets blaring… it already smells of one of the most important Catholic traditions in Spain: The Holy Week known in Spanish as “Semana Santa”. It is a time of processions, and a time to reconnect with our cultural roots. It is a special opportunity to see Nazarenes, women wearing “mantillas” and the costaleros (bearers) led by the capataz to the cry of: “Al cielo con ella”.

Easter is one of the most interesting tourist attractions in Motril. It starts on Easter Sunday with the procession of Jesus entering Jerusalem and it finishes one week later, on Resurrection Sunday, with the procession of Resurrected Christ. Everybody stares at Nazarenes and mantillas, the light of candles, images passing around the streets and façades. Amazing thrones made of wood and valuable metals, full of flowers, embroideries, candelabrums: craftwork in its pure state.

Semana Santa is not only a religious celebration since it is a symbol of folklore and culture of Andalusia. The dates of the celebration vary on a yearly basis, given that the feast is not attached to a specific date: the Resurrection day must be celebrated on Sunday after the spring equinox, but it can be celebrated before the 22nd of March or after the 25th April. It begins after the Lent, forty days period after Ash Wednesday.

Our Culture could not be understood without this celebration, when believers remember Christ’s suffering and death, last days of God’s son in the Earth.