Chariot racing, carriages bearing Nero and Cleopatra, displays by horse riders dressed in Roman costume….no, we are not describing one of the films for which Cecil B de Mille or Samuel Bronston became famous. This is part of a secular celebration of Holy Week in Lorca (Murcia). A festival that a year ago was declared as being of International Interest for Tourists and which like no other, combines religious celebration with the splendor of a late carnival.

Without doubt, Holy Week is the festival that is most observed throughout Spain. Each town, city and district has its own way of observing the celebration, with passion, retreat, dedication and even with joy. Processions, candles, Nazarenes, Virgins and Christs of all imaginable kinds celebrate the passion and death of Jesus, during the week of the first full moon after the spring equinox, which this year is the earliest ever celebrated.

Holy Week in Lorca has all of this, and much more. And this is what makes it so different from any other, either in Spain or anywhere else for that matter. Here the virgins compete for beauty and piety. The Virgin of Bitterness and the Virgin of Sorrows surrounded by their followers and acolytes of the white and blue processions respectively, not only show off their finery of gold embroidered cloaks and silks made by patient Lorcans who work for 12 months behind closed doors, but more than anything else, demonstrate this magnificent display of imagination, fantasy and skill.

A celebration of Holy Week that is Catholic, Apostolic and…pagan

One aspect that makes Holy Week in Lorca so different is its unique combination of religious exaltation on the one hand and a production style worthy of Hollywood on the other. Characters from pre-Christian times such as Ptolemy IV, Vespasian, Domitian, Tiberius, Moses and even Julius Caesar, Nero or Cleopatra are born on floats in procession through the streets of Lorca in a historical hotchpotch of polytheistic fervor that defies imagination. All this, together with acrobats on horse drawn floats that would be the envy of Ben Hur or Buffalo Bill.

This visual spectacle is the culmination of a whole year’s work, searching Andalusia, Galicia and Murcia for the very best horses and hiring the most daring acrobats.

This unique spectacle is overlaid with passion, and with the pride of those who are members of the rival groups. The world is divided into two, into the Whites and the Blues. All of their members
combine to display fervor and passion, sung and shouted as if each individual wanted his voice to be heard above the rest. Crowds of people huddle in church doorways to accompany the Virgin of Sorrows of the Blues or the Virgin of Bitterness of the Whites, their voices urging each other on, getting louder and louder as they try and see whose shout of “Viva! is the loudest.

Embroidered with gold and silk

The passion for religion is accompanied by an equal passion worked into the robes that decorate the Virgins and historical characters, the embroidery which can be seen throughout the whole procession: real jewelry, skillfully interwoven, silently, secretly. The handiwork of the Lorcan embroiderers, working with gold, silk and fine fabrics, is much prized and the resulting banners, cloaks and other decorations stimulate spontaneous applause from the viewing public.

However it doesn’t all end here. Behind the horsemen, the groups who process on foot, the floats and chariots, of the filigrees made by each one before thousands of spectators, comes the instant of real collective ecstasy, the moment when the Virgin of Sorrows and the Virgin of Bitterness on their thrones process before the people. Lorca erupts into a storm of shouting, like fire that has come to life. Each person applauds their statue, but the respect that each group has for the other is so great that all you can think of is that in this same place, at this same time each year, over a period of many years, one of the most sublime moments possible has been experienced, moments that defy the senses.

Long history

As far as we can tell, Holy Week in Lorca probably began in 1855, when the brotherhood of the Blues decided to process in tunics of rich velvet embroidered with gold. The brotherhood of the Whites could not compete with this display as their rules dictated that their uniforms had to be of simple linen, and so they decided to adopt an innovation that would attract the attention of the faithful. This innovation consisted of re-enacting“Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem” with a cast of thirty people. The following year the blues staged “the Street of Sorrows” with praetorian guards, the deicide people armed with instruments for martyrdom Gestas and Dimas, and some more participants taken from the sacramental plays that are still seen in Murcian towns even today.

Having reached this stage all that was necessary was for a bishop or brother with the vision to bring more shape to the imposing spectacle constituted by the processions. The rivalry between the two brotherhoods was enough to ensure that what had started out as a simple series of acts of penitence, grew into the sumptuous display that we observe today. Since that time, Lorcan Holy Week has become one of the most popular traditions with an atmosphere of operatic splendor, which was probably quite alien to the cultural atmosphere that normally pervades the city. Some artisans got together to establish a school of embroidery, and using such precious materials as silk, gold and silver, developed a repertoire of exquisitely complex techniques and produced sensational compositions equaling the most learned painters. The robes that clothe the figures, the horsemen’s cloaks, the costumes of each of the characters, even the hoods of the Nazarenes, as well as being authentic examples of this highly delicate artistry are also a demonstration also of
why Holy Week in Lorca is much more than just theater.

For more information, contact:
Lorca Municipal Tourist Office
Tel. 968 441 914 • Fax: 968 466 157
www.lorca.es