Seville reigns in Spain for food and floating saints
Over the Easter period the capital of Andalucía is a sensory overload, writes Madeleine Morrow
Eating mushroom cake while hundreds of men in black robes and conical hats lined up outside the restaurant might be the most bizarre experience I had in Seville. Or perhaps it was the legion of Roman centurions marching in formation in the middle of the night, their white plumes waving in the breeze. During Semana Santa, the Easter Holy Week, ritual and devotion reach unsurpassed levels when parish churches hold processions, displaying religious statues on floats called pasos. Concealed behind a curtain that surrounds its wooden base, 40 men have the honour of carrying each 2,000kg paso, giving the appearance that the statue is floating. Among a range of painted wooden statues, often centuries old, the weeping Virgin is particularly venerated and is surrounded by huge floral bouquets and giant candles. Petals rain down on her from balconies. Each procession includes hundreds, sometimes thousands, of penitents who don robes and pointed hoods that cover their faces, providing anonymit...
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