Processional Parade

There are numerous elements around a Holy Week procession, although not all brotherhoods have the same characteristics in their processions. In this section, we will try to provide you with a very general insight of the organisation of a processional parade, from the first nazarene to the Main Brother (president) himself.

The highest person in charge of the organisation of a processional parade is usually a member of the Governing Body, which is elected every four years, together with the Main Brother, by the members of the brotherhood themselves. This member is called “Main Representative of the Governing Body” or “Representative in the Procession”. This person is in charge of making the “list of the procession”, with the names of all those people who will be part of the retinue on their day. According to the tradition of each brotherhood, the order of the nazarenes will vary, no matter if they are carrying banners or just large candles. However, it is very frequent for those nazarenes who have been members of the brotherhood for longer to occupy a back place, closer to the images.

When Lent approaches, each brotherhood sends an informative bulletin to each brother where they are informed of the latest news of the brotherhood, the projects that have been carried out and those intended for the future… They usually use this bulletin to announce the dates when those interested in taking part in the station of penance can go to the headquarters of the brotherhood in order to collect their placement document (a document with the person’s name and the place he or she will occupy in the processional parade, as well as his or her post).

In order for someone to be part of a procession, a series of requirements must be met, obviously depending on the brotherhood, although there are not big differences. The main requirement is to be a member of the brotherhood, and the yearly fee must be paid. However, nowadays, and for different reasons, the costaleros (carriers of the images) are usually exempt from these obligations, although it would be unfair to ignore the figure of the “brother costalero”, who, apart from being costalero, complies with his brotherhood as any other brother wearing the nazarene habit.

If we focus on the day of the procession, in the moments prior to the beginning of the station of penance, we go back to the figure of the Representative in the Procession, who is also in charge of knocking the door of the temple to let the Guiding Cross start its walk. From the moment when the brotherhood is on the streets until it goes back to the temple, the Representative in the Procession is its highest responsible, and not even the Main Brother can contradict his decisions. However, not all decisions are made by this person, as he is helped by other representatives, such as the “Hours Representative”, in charge of complying with the established timetable, orthe “Section Representative”, in charge of keeping the order of the nazarenes in each section or even the “Pace Representatives”, who are responsible for everything around the pace, such as the timetable, the music… The Main Brother, as long as he is not foreman or costalero, something which is more and more frequent in our city, closes the retinue of nazarenes, before the pace of the canopy (with the Virgin), flanked by other posts of the brotherhood and carrying the “Main Brother’s Baton”.

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