🇬🇧 GOOD FRIDAY PROCESSION (Valladolid)

Text and photos: Javier Prieto Gallego / Translation: Amy Harmon

In the photograph, the image of the Holy Christ of the Most Precious Blood (Lázaro Gumiel, 1953) passes in front of La AntiguaChurch at the beginning of the General Procession of the Sacred Passion of the Redeemer, a procession in which all the brotherhoods of the Holy Week in Valladolid participate. It stands out for the quantity (33 floats) and quality of its works, which encompass all the scenes of the Passion of Christ, from the Last Supper to the Solitude of his Mother. Many of these works were created by the great masters of Castilian imagery from the 17th and 18th centuries and are owned by the National Museum of Sculpture, located in Valladolid, where they can also be admired throughout the rest of the year.

Holy Week in Valladolid, declared an International Tourist Interest, constitutes the city’s major festive-religious moment. It is characterized by its sobriety and seriousness. The monumental height and immense expressiveness of the floats, many of which are impossible to be carried on shoulders, overwhelm the attendees, who watch the processions in a respectful and spontaneous silence, also moved by the ambiance created by the music of the brotherhoods and the march of up to 14,000 of its members.

WHERE IS THE COVER PHOTO TAKEN?