Spain’s Weirdest Easter Events

Easter,

McDonald

SEMANA Santa (Holy Week) is celebrated with great passion throughout Spain. Between April 2 and Easter Sunday on April 9, you can expect multiple processions day and night in the bigger towns and cities.

The floats (pasos) carrying saints, candles and flowers are carried through the streets on the shoulders of men, preceded by the clergy and followed by a cloud of incense, a

Procession of the Drunken Mobs, Cuenca (Castilla-La Mancha)

Jesus Christ was subjected to while dragging his crucifixion cross to Mount Calvary. The march gets under way at dawn on Good Friday, when ‘the mobs’ respectfully stage the ridicule of Christ to the sound of out-of-tune drums and trumpets while drinking resoli, the typical drink of Cuenca.

band or drummers, and penitents. Biblical events are commemorated with great fervour in even the smallest of villages. But there are some places where the local population goes the extra mile, adding a personal touch or a twist on the Easter theme.

Here are some of Spain’s more unusual Semana Santa celebrations:

Descent of the Angel, Aranda de Duero (Burgos)

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THE Spanish government is preparing a law to ban the sale of internal combustion engines by 2040. It is part of a concerted effort to be the first European government to meet the EU’s official target of a 40% reduction in carbon emissions by 2040.

Fair enough – we all want cleaner air.

In addition to the problems of polluting emissions, when you consider that fossil fuels (gasoline and diesel) are becoming exponentially more expensive, it stands to reason that the automotive industry is heavily invested in producing emission-free electric vehicles (EVs) and hybrids. Yet the reliance of EVs on the electrical grid system creates its own set of problems (more about that later).

So what about a solar car? After all, solar energy is front and centre in any discussion of clean, emission-free energy – especially here in sunny Spain!

But the silence around the topic is deafening, so I looked into it.

As mentioned, the internal combustion engine is going the way of the dinosaurs. Since the Spanish government announced its intention, 31 countries, states and cities have internal combustion bans in place.

Copenhagen, for example, wants to end all diesel sales starting

ON Easter Sunday, they stage the appearance of the angel who announced the Resurrection of Jesus to the Virgin. Using a system of pulleys, a globe – suspended from a cable – is lowered into position above a statue of the Virgin Mary, cloaked in black. To gasps and cheers from the crowd, the globe bursts apart showering confetti to reveal a small child, also dangling somewhat precariously from the cable, dressed as an angel. The angel releases two doves, swoops down and removes the cloak to signify the end of mourning, and flies up and down at quite some height.

Drumming of Hellin (Castilla-La Mancha)

MORE than 20,000 drums sound through the streets and rattle the windows of this city – and almost all week. The first drumming session takes place on Holy Wednesday and the last ones boom out on Easter Sunday. Attendees dress in black tunics with red scarves tied around their necks.

Driving on sunshine

Fossil fuels are bad for the planet, electricity is expensive. How about we all drive solar cars? Jack Gaioni explores the options while waiting for a breakthrough next year. Likewise, Paris, Athens, Milan, and Mexico City plan bans by 2025; Norway by 2025; and France, Germany and the UK by 2040. In the United States, California, New York, and Washington have a 2030 target date for a ban in place.

With the aim of reducing emissions paramount, it’s logical the auto industry is promoting EVs. Indeed, running cars on electricity does reduce emissions, but there are unintended consequences.

Here in Spain, the cost of electricity has skyrocketed and costs four times what it did just a few short years ago. Blackouts are becoming more common everywhere: the US already has more than any other developed nation, and the situation is getting worse. Experts expect a 38% increase in electricity consumption by 2050, mostly due to the projected sales of EVs. Add to that another 10-15% increase to reflect the growth of energy-consuming industries, and power grids will be hard pressed to keep up with demand.

Bottlenecks in the supply of batteries and the high demand for components have already caused some manufactures to suspend EV production.

Doomed

Factors like these undermine confidence in the EV and hybrid markets. But if the internal combustion engine is doomed, and there are doubts about the reliability and capacity of electricity grids, what direction does the auto industry turn?

A few established auto manufacturers in-