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Malaga
Friday, 16 May 2025, 11:41
The Holy Week processions in Malaga and Seville attract thousands of tourists as well as locals every year. This weekend, part of Andalucía's Semana Santa makes a one-off visit to Rome as two iconic figures have been invited to join a procession as part of the Jubilee of Confraternities.
In Malaga preparations began as soon as the Holy Week processions were over. The image chosen to represent Malaga's Semana Santa brotherhoods in Rome is the Virgen de la Esperanza (Our Lady of Hope), which is normally carried out in procession through Malaga on Maundy Thursday.
The Esperanza is one of Malaga's most spectacular Virgins, carried by 267 members of the brotherhood on a wooden base or 'trono' that is the heaviest of all those in Malaga's Holy Week.
All this has been dismantled and shipped to Rome, arriving earlier this week and being set up ready for the procession on Saturday.
Our Lady, complete with long embroidered mantle, flowers and candles, will be carried by 527 members of the Malaga brotherhood in two shifts. The procession will also be accompanied by around 300 members of the brotherhood who will walk in front of the Virgin with candles. The 'trono' will be followed by the brotherhood's own marching band.
Ahead of the Esperanza in Saturday's procession will be another special guest from Andalucía, the Christ figure known as 'El Cachorro', a favourite part of the Holy Week celebrations in Seville. Around 300 members of the brotherhood will walk in front of the image, which will be carried in the traditional manner of Seville's Semana Santa. While the carriers of the Malaga figures are visible, the carriers of the Seville images are hidden underneath.
El Cachorro, one of Seville's favourite images of Christ, will be followed by the brotherhood's own marching band.
It is expected that some 50,000 people from Andalucía will be in Rome this weekend to witness this unique procession.
Prior to the procession on Saturday, La Esperanza and El Cachorro have been put on display in St Peter's Basilica's Presentation Chapel where they have been visited by thousands.
"We're showing the Virgin to tens of thousands of people of all nationalities of the world; this is a dream," said one of the members of the Malaga delegation in Rome on Thursday.
The two figures from Andalucía that make up the main procession will be preceded by images from Portugal, Italy, León (Spain) and France. The procession will begin at around 3pm and is expected to be in the streets of Rome, passing landmarks such as the Colosseum, until 10pm.
The special guests will then be dismantled and shipped back to Andalucía.
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