Easter in Cartagena - a different view of Semana Santa

Last year we saw Easter (Semana Santa) in our home town of Pilar de la Horadada. It was a fantastic spectacle involving the whole town - the work involved to organise it must be colossal.
We decided to move up a league this year. The scale of the parades and the tronos (the huge platforms with religious figures on them that are carried on the shoulders of many men and women called costeleros) is a factor higher in the big cities with everything bigger, heavier, louder and on such a scale it takes some getting used to.
The number of people watching and participating in Semana Santa in the major cities is something to behold compared to provincial towns such as Pilar (which is not to decry the Semana Santa celebrations in Pilar - they are very, very impressive).
Our two nearest cities with spectacular Semana Santa processions are Cartagena and Murcia. We drew lots and Cartagena won this year - so here we are. (We will go to Murcia another year)

Tuesday 15/04/2014   Home to Cartagena
One of the first places we stopped when we first got Cervantes was Camperpark Cartagena. The site was excellent and the receptionist/owner (Teresa) was fantastic - so helpful and made us feel thoroughly welcome.
This time we booked here for 7 days - very unusual for us but Semana Santa runs for up to two weeks. The bus to Cartagena city centre runs every 15 mins from a stop 10 mins walk away (take a torch if you will be returning in the dark - the road is narrow and unlit). The cost is €1.20 each way, but only €0.75 each way if you buy a bono card for €3.00 from the driver - you can add money to the card on any bus and one card is OK for two people if you are travelling together (you don't need one each).
The plan is to see the processions every night until Easter Sunday and experience for ourselves the feeling of being in the middle of a football-sized crowd of religious followers on the most important week of their year.
However, today involved getting here (shopping on the way - where would we be without Lidl?), setting up Cervantes on our pitch and chilling in the 25° sunshine - heaven!!
We got the 8.00pm bus to Cartagena to see the first procession.
Cartagena is primarily a military city and this is celebrated by 3 tronos carried from 3 different military bases.
The trono carrying St James comes from the military headquarters. The trono carrying St John comes from the artillery park. The trono carrying St Peter comes from the military arsenal. They come together at the church of Santa Maria after being paraded through the streets. Accompanying them are members of the cofradias with their robes and tall hats, bands and drummers, and military personnel in full dress uniform and battle dress.

St John in the military barracks

The artillery barracks

St James in the procession

The headquarters of the military where St James starts from

St Peter, from the military arsenal, has his own military ID card and gets a special privilege pass out on Tuesday and Wednesday of Holy week.
He has to get a special pass out because he is technically under arrest!
Many years ago an attempt was made to steal some lead from the military arsenal by hiding it in the trono. The guards at the gate saw the cofradia struggling with the weight and stopped and searched the trono. He found the lead, but all members of the cofradia denied any knowledge of the crime, so with no alternative the military guards arrested St Peter and put him under detention, where he has been ever since.

St Peter stood on the roof of the vatican - he was the first pope

The military arsenal which lets St Peter out once a year

The processions in Cartagena are very ordered, precise and regimented, as you would expect from the military. This contrasts with Semana Santa processions in other places such as Murcia, where they are much more relaxed and joyful with not as much control.
All the participants of the processions in Cartagena walk in arrow-straight lines, walk in step with the beat of the drums, and are all chosen to be the same height to give an appearance of uniformity, order and regimentation.

St John in procession through the streets

Needless to say the scale of the tronos, the processions and the watching crowd was immense.
A huge spectacle watched by thousands.
Bus home at 10.15pm saw us back in Cervantes by 11.00pm
See todays full photo gallery here


Wednesday 16/04/2014
Through the internet we  had booked ourselves onto a walking tour of Cartagena city centre which majored on Semana Santa and included a behind the scenes viewing of the tronos being prepared for tonight's procession.
Our guide Ignacio was excellent, speaking fluent English and going into great detail about the 3 main influences of Cartagena - Roman, Moorish and Christian. Above all Cartagena is a military city - a large naval base takes up 1/3 of the city. Mining for silver and lead was also a large part of the history of Cartagena.

Our guide Ignacio - a fine source of information

We were led to the church of Santa Maria where all the processions finish, and most of them start from.
Inside an army of people were decorating the tronos with flowers, arranging the 12 disciples at the table of the last supper, making sure the lights were working, and generally looking very, very busy.

Attention to the last detail

Flower arranging

Making sure the disciples sit in their correct seats

Before the flowers are added

More flower arranging

Most of the tronos are carried by members of the various cofradias, but some were so huge that they had to be on wheels with an electric motor to move them. The biggest had its own power source travelling behind connected by a thick electric cable. However, if they are carried , things don't always go to plan - an example here (not the only tottering virgin over Easter I imagine).
We were also able (thanks to Ignacio) to go into the meeting rooms of the Californos cofradía - a very private place that only a few chosen people see.

The Californos trono in their private chapel

Inside the inner sanctum of the Californos - a very special place

One trono weighed 2600 kgs, was carried by 120 costaleros and had a huge statue of the Virgin Mary on it. She was wearing an enormous mantle (cloak) which took 2 years to make and weighs 70 kgs, 50 kgs of which was gold thread. (all facts courtesy of Ignacio).
The most important tronos here are replicas of the original ones by the sculptor Francisco Salzillo who has a museum dedicated to him in Murcia. The original ones are brought out of the museum and used in the Murcia celebrations for Semana Santa, which we hope to see in future years. We have been to the museum to see the sculptures up close and they are stunning.
We then toured some naval instalations including the new home of the first working submarine ever built, along with some historic Cartagena highlights to finish in the Town Hall square. A fantastic 2 hour tour worth every cent of €10.
Back to Cartagena in the evening to see the procession proper. It was suitably huge in every respect with thousands of people watching, and seemingly thousands of people taking part.
Tonight's procession was one of two big ones (the other being on Friday). If you stood in one spot and watched all the procession from start to finish it would take 6.5 hours to pass.
We saw 3 hours worth and tried to walk against the direction of the procession to see more, but the crowds were massive and reluctant to part, and the pavements were very narrow.

The last supper trono, now fully decorated

We found a good viewing spot - tronos on both sides of us

Trono passing in front of a military building

St Peter coming out of Santa Maria church, where the processions start from

The umbilical cord and power supply following St Peter

A huge trono carried by at least 90 costeleros

We did manage to see 10 of the 12 tronos before finally giving in and getting the midnight bus home.
There was a bit of drama before we caught the bus in that we could not get a proper timetable of the bus times, despite asking the bus drivers and going to the bus station to ask. We got half a story in the end which was confirmed by the people waiting at the bus stop, but the police had closed the roads around our bus stop, so we had to guess where the bus would be diverted to. We guessed right in the end, but it was a close thing.
See todays full photo gallery here


Thursday 17/04/2014
Glyn had seen on the internet (WiFi included in our €7 per day fee on this site) that a cruise ship with sails was due into Cartagena this morning. We watched it dock on the port webcam so knew it had made it on time, and decided to go in and watch it leave at 3.00pm

4 masted cruise ship docked in Cartagena

I thought it was going to be a pretend sailing ship with no sails, but suprisingly there was one mainsail on one of the masts, and four spinnakers, one on each mast. How much power they would contribute to a ship of this size is debateable, but they certainly looked impressive.

Does this look odd to you?

It looks a bit top-heavy - I wonder if it has a keel

The sea was dead calm, and the exit from Cartagena bound for Valencia was very slow and stately.
The 4.00pm bus got us back to Cervantes for a beer in the sun before tonights procession.
There are 2 main cofradias in Cartagena. The Californos (founded by a man who made his fortune in California) wear predominantly red and control the first half of Holy week. The second half is controlled by the purple wearing Marrajas. The marraja is a fish caught off the coast of Cartagena, and half of all the profits on the catch were used to found the cofradia.

Flag of the Californos cofradía

Flag of the Marrajas cofradía

Tonight's procession (the last one to be dominated by the Californos) is the silent, unlit procession and includes tronos of the betrayal of Christ, Christ on the cross and the grieving Virgin Mary.

A dark, silent procession - it really was dark

Christ on the cross

The atmosphere was electric watching the silent, dark procession. All the street lights and most of the shop and house lights had been turned off, so until the brightly lit tronos came past, all you could see in the gloom were the shapes of silent figures - very atmospheric.

Some light on the trono to lead the way

Our lady of Christ, the Virgin Mary, in that mantle

At certain points around the route, specially chosen singers were placed on balconies above the procession. As the procession reached these points they stopped, and the singer sings a haunting song, very much like flamenco singing, which is very moving to everyone who hears it. Unfortunately we did not know where these points were, but looking at the crowds it would have been difficult to get near enough to hear the singing.

Ladies in black mantillas (the veils on their heads)

Luckily the weather was kind, so no rain or wind tonight.
We caught the 10.45pm bus so home for 11.30pm. The sliding gates on the motorhome park are locked closed from 9.00pm to 9.00am, so Teresa has kindly given us a key to the door so we can come and go as we please.
See today's full photo gallery here



Friday 18/04/2014
The fridge seems not to be working again as it should. We thought it was cured with the new burner fitted in September 2013, but apparently not. The freezer is down to -10° but the fridge is at +15°, so not good enough if the outside temperature is only at +25°. A visit to the dealers to sort this problem is now essential when we get back.
Today is the second of the really big, long processions due to start at 9.00pm
We got the 8.00pm bus to Cartagena and another marathon 6 hour procession to come.

Busy streets - I think the whole of Cartagena is here tonight

Walking the backstreets of Cartagena we found a couple of really nice, authentic, genuine, unspoilt local bars - just our style. After a beer the procession should have been with us, but a delay meant another 20 mins before it appeared.

A well-lit trono on wheels

Christ on the cross

Christ being removed from the cross

Christ with Mary

The Virgin Mary

The first 6 enormous tronos were so huge that they were on wheels and powered by electric, although the 7th was carried by at least 80 costaleros (bearers).

Huge trono carried by costaleros

As well as the tronos, the bands, the military and the cofradias, the processions also have the granaderos. These are helpers dressed in cofradias colours but without the tall hats. In years gone by they gave out food to the poor and starving along the procession route. These days they give out sweets and religious photos and texts to the crowds.
The young lad in front of us was doing very well out of the granaderos - he already had a rucksack full of sweets!

Marching soldiers

Membersof the cofradía

We watched as many tronos as we could but by midnight we were flagging so caught the bus home. A total of 15 people got off the bus in Santa Ana and walked back to the campsite with us to go to their respective vans - many people with the same idea as us.
See today's full photo gallery here


Saturday 19/04/2014
The fridge saga continues. This morning the freezer was at -1° and the fridge at +19°. That meant that the fridge was warmer than the van this morning!
We decided to put Cervantes onto mains electric hook-up to see if that would narrow down the fridge problem to the gas use only. Results so far are:-
Sat 09.00am  Freezer -3°     Fridge +19°
      10.20am  Freezer -5°     Fridge +15°
      12.20pm  Freezer -5°     Fridge +13°
      03.30pm  Freezer -6°     Fridge +11°
      05.00pm  Freezer -7°     Fridge +9°
      06.30pm  Freezer -7°     Fridge +8°
      08.00pm  Freezer -9°     Fridge +8°
      11.30pm  Freezer -11°   Fridge +8°
Sun 09.00am Freezer -15°   Fridge +3°
We had parked Cervantes so the fridge vents were out of direct sunlight. The fridge control was set to maximum, the external temperature on Sat was 26°, the internal van temperature was 23°. Overnight (Sat to Sun) temp was 13° in the van. Prior to the change to hook-up, the gas bottle was changed for a new, full one on Thursday morning. Whilst the freezer did get to -10° at one point, the fridge never got below +15°, so it looks like the fridge runs fine on mains electric but does not work properly on gas.
We decided to head into the local town of Santa Ana to have an explore. A nice little town sandwiched between 2 busy roads. We found a cafe doing excellent toast and coffee for breakfast, and after buying bread for today and tomorrow we went back to the site.
Great sunshine until 6.00pm when rain (!!) forced us into Cervantes. We did not bring any rain gear with us so we decided to give the ladies procession tonight a miss, and go in for the celebration procession tomorrow morning.


Sunday 20/04/2014
Into Cartagena today on the 10.00am bus for the last of the Semana Santa processions.
The local info said this was a joyful, celebratory procession to celebrate Christ risen from the dead.
The day was bright and clear with full warm sunshine all day.
We found a good, open viewing spot for the procession and got there just as the first trono was approaching - great timing.

The first trono of the day

The pain of the costalero is evident

One of the many bands

Trono complete with real tree

Welcome back

The phoenix rising from the ashes

Fantastic detail of Jesus...

...and Mary

Jesus is risen

All female costaleras carrying Jesus and doubting Thomas

St Peter and the fish (real fish)

Flowers in abundance

Granaderas giving out sweets

Precision marching by the soldiers

Pain, concentration and devotion

The Virgin Mary and costaleros

Ladies in white mantillas

Concentrating to the end

Even Romans have to get home somehow

The procession was held in the daylight which made it feel brighter and lighter, but to be perfectly honest it was exactly the same as the other ones we had seen. Granaderos leading the way giving out sweets, a marching band, the codfradia members and a trono. We expected dancing and singing to praise the Lord, but in essence it was just the same (although there did seem to be more children taking part in the procession) - still mightily impressive, but not different.
We managed to watch the whole of the procession pass us in 2.5 hours, which was very enjoyable to watch. Again most of the tronos were on wheels, but 3 were carried by costeleros, one carried exclusively by women - very impressive. Especially good was the trono with St Peter the fisherman, who was holding a fishing net with real fish in it. Great imagination and a tremendous amount of work to produce this.
Again the military were out in force with some very regimented displays of marching and weapon handling.
All in all a fantastic experience - it was a privilege to be here and watch it.
We were home for 4.00pm to get the last of the sun and have a quiet night in.
The fridge is now working perfectly on mains hook-up, so the problem is definitely the gas supply/operation.
See today's full photo gallery here


Monday 21/04/14
The processions are now all finished and most people are back at work/school, so we are having a day to ourselves in Cartagena.
We decided to try to get to a high point to look down on Cartagena from a different perspective. The hill we chose was on the left hand side as you enter the harbour.
We had driven down this road last year to wave goodbye to a very good friend (Sue) who was leaving on a cruise ship. She passed us in very rough seas (4 tugs were needed to get them into the open sea!) at the entrance to Cartagena harbour.
We turned off right before the harbour entrance and walked up a hairpin road to the top of the hill, where there are numerous communications towers.
The view was excellent. The naval dockyard was visible (usually not seen from Cartagena) and showed how big it really is. The boatbuilding sheds and dry dock were on a scale of immense proportions.
We sat for a good 30 mins at the top pointing out the landmarks we knew and surmising about others.

Container port

Cruise ship dock and marina

Castle and quayside

University and military buildings

Naval base (lime green police station behind it)

I was a bit nervous about taking any photographs due to the signs on the way up saying "Military land - no cars or foot traffic" We still pressed on and climbed the hill because we could see people and bikes walking/riding up and down. It was obvious that no-one was stopping them walking or riding up, but I thought photographs may be taking it a bit far.

Do not pass!! (No vehicles or pies)

Out of sight of the CCTV cameras on the top of the hill (I think!!) I took some covert pictures of the panorama of Cartagena.
A great view of a great city, and never forgotten memories of a very impressive Semana Santa. We will be back very soon.
See today's full photo gallery here