Spain: Easter fiesta is on parade
Our group was fortunate to learn a little of the background to the festival when we were invited to visit the brotherhood of Esperanza (Hope) prior to the procession. Its spokesman Carlos Martinez Dominguez told me what membership had meant to him.
Wasting his life when young, he was nevertheless able to take up his place as a carrier of the float bearing Jesus carrying his cross towards Calvary.
“I was behind Jesus so I wasn’t seeing him but then at one point I looked in the window of a shop we were passing and I saw Jesus’ face reflected in the glass,” he recalls. “I cannot explain it but from that moment I knew I had to change my life.”
Now past the upper age limit of 50, Carlos is no longer able to help carry the float but his love and veneration for the parade is clear as he proudly shows us round the museum dedicated to Esperanza.
And all across Malaga there are thousands of men like Carlos for whom carrying the float marks the high point of Easter. Among the carriers is Hollywood actor Antonio Banderas who returns to his home city of Malaga each year to take part in the procession of the Fusionados, meaning Combined as this brotherhood brings together two former brotherhoods to carry four floats.
Most of the processions take place in the evening and there are two words of warning for any tourists planning to see them. Firstly be prepared for a late night. The Spanish love to party and they love to party late with some of the biggest processions not even beginning until nearly midnight and walking through the streets until 5am.
And also be prepared for the weather as a forecast for rain will lead to the cancellation of parades. With their figures of Jesus and Mary priceless, the brotherhoods will not risk carrying them in rain.
Only then could you be sure of experiencing the excitement as a float emerges into a crowd, carried by 200 men all preparing to spend the next six hours practising their faith.
Other top Malaga attractions:
* The new Picasso Museum housed in the Palacio de Buenavista includes more than 150 works by the city-born artist.
* The city has one of Europe’s finest botanical gardens in La Concepcion, 5km from the centre.
* The 16th century cathedral blends Renaissance and Baroque but remains unfinished with its incomplete South tower earning it the nickname "the one-armed”.
* Revive the age of Moorish Spain by visiting the Alcazaba and Gibralfaro, two Muslim fortresses dating from the 11th to 14th centuries.
* Enjoy a glass of wine and tapas at Cafe Central with its view of the Plaza de la Constitucion.
* Go shopping – bring back local delicacies such as olives, oranges and wine. But make sure you buy your Easter eggs beforehand as the Spanish have yet to catch on to this Easter trend.
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