We went to see two parades over Easter. One on Good Friday morning, which was a small one and a larger one Friday afternoon. This was the one that was on the television. After we watched the parade we went into a bar where it was being shown on the television – and we’re glad we did as we saw how they got the statues out of the Church – on their knees!
We also saw Manuel and we were talking about the parades, and he says that there is a waiting list to carry the statues – and that they pay. Not the church paying the men – the men paying the church!
Two pics below – the first is the Virgen coming into the square at Llerena. I chose this pic as it shows the weight that they had to carry when shuffling out of the Church on their knees. If you look carefully, you can see a wooden ‘thing’ behind the cross. This was used to push wires up out of the way.
The second pic is from the parade in the morning, and I chose this one after I found out that they pay for doing this!
