Berkley Center

It is no secret that Spain is a country with a strong Catholic influence. From the Reconquista, when the Catholic crusaders “reconquered” Spain from the Muslims, to the Catholic kings Isabel and Fernando, who sent Christopher Columbus to the New World, Spanish history is filled with examples of the Church’s influence. This influence extends into the modern era and can be seen in many aspects: the imposing cathedrals in every city, the religious city and street names, as well as the elaborate celebrations of Catholic holidays such as Semana Santa, the Holy Week leading up to Easter.

However, before I arrived in Spain, I expected to observe that the historical Catholic influence does not translate to a strong Catholic presence in modern Spain. This opinion is certainly supported by the statistics. For example, a 2013 survey conducted by the Center of Sociological Investigations (CIS) states that although 73.1 percent of the population is Catholic, 58.5 percent of Catholics almost never attend Mass, and only 15.6 percent attend Mass on a weekly basis. This low number does not surprise me, as I have attended several Masses in which I was the only person under the age of 60. Furthermore, according to the CIS study, 23.6 percent of the population, including many of the public university students I have met, categorize themselves as atheist or “non-believers.” The secularization of Spanish society can be seen in the openness about sex, legalization of same-sex marriage, and reduction of restrictions on abortion, among other things. In this respect, it can certainly seem that Catholicism in Spain is an empty, if not dying, religious practice.

Nevertheless, my personal observation of Catholicism in Spain indicates that the topic of religion is not as simple as the statistics suggest. In my experience, the Catholic holiday Semana Santa best demonstrates the blend of cultural tradition and strong religious devotion that characterizes Catholicism in Spain. During my spring break, I had the opportunity to travel around Spain and observe Semana Santa in several cities. Semana Santa starts on the Sunday before Easter and consists of a week of processions in which statues of Jesus, Mary, and other religious figures on large floats are carried on the shoulders of the processors as they walk through the city. The Sunday processions are celebratory and festive, whereas the processions during the week are solemn. The floats are accompanied by hooded participants that are reminiscent of the Ku Klux Klan, mourning women in black dresses who wear traditional Spanish mantillas, and a marching band. Additionally, some processions had penitents that marched barefoot with chains dragging around their feet while they carried a large wooden cross.

Sevilla has perhaps the largest Semana Santa celebrations, which draw the most tourists and the largest crowds. Barriers separate the expensive ticketed seating areas from the standing-only sections. The processions march down the main street towards the cathedral all night long. For the most part, the individual processions are identical, except for the color of the participants’ robes or the statues on the floats. Despite having already viewed similar processions for hours, people still stood mesmerized until after 4 a.m. To me, the atmosphere felt more like a bizarre show than a religious procession, which reveals, in my opinion, the highly commercialized nature of Semana Santa at times. For some, Semana Santa is merely a historical tradition and cultural celebration that draws many Spanish and foreign tourists.

Yet, for others, Semana Santa is still the most important religious holiday of the year. In Sevilla, this fact can be seen in the brows of the float-bearers, which drip with sweat as they steadily march down the street with the other exhausted volunteers. It can be seen in the heart-wrenching, impromptu songs that members of the crowd sing as a float passes through a dark alley. In my opinion, this honest religious devotion of Spanish Catholics was even more evident in Salamanca, a smaller city that attracts fewer tourists. Crowds stood along the sides of the streets in silence to watch the processions, despite the cold weather. Perhaps it was just the difference in size, but the processions in Salamanca seemed much more like religious ceremonies than a secular parade.

To a foreigner in Spain, Semana Santa can seem very strange and, speaking candidly, spooky. Even so, the continued importance and extravagance of the holiday indicates that Catholicism still holds a significant place in Spain, perhaps both as a cultural tradition and a religious practice.