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We all love holidays. That time when you can disconnect from your routine and obligations to be able to spend your time as you see fit. We all agree that it is good and necessary.

When you live in a place as touristy as the coast of southern Spain, you come across many different types of visitors. The vast majority come to enjoy the sun and the Mediterranean; some want a more complete package and decide to delve into the culture, both the gastronomy and the Andalusian folklore. The only important thing is to have a good time, without worries. But the truth is that, despite its being a town with so much sunlight, Almuñecar is still in darkness, and now that Easter is approaching, we are surprised to discover visiting believers who find the religious processions attractive, even picturesque: where the images of Jesus and the Virgin are venerated to the point of immorality and where the penitents go out dressed in the ‘San Benito’, a pointed cap that hides the face. This is how the Holy Inquisition dressed and paraded through the streets those it considered guilty of heresy before burning them at the stake, and it is reminiscent of the hoods used by the Ku Klux Klan.

There is a terrible history behind what we innocently think of as another attraction on our holidays when we come to Spain. There is a spiritual blindness that is so great; and there is a religiosity of such vain tradition that it fails to fill the lost hearts of so many deluded Spaniards, who are unable to tell where God really is or where he isn’t in all this circus. It is sad to have to admit that the Holy Week processions remain only as hollow emotional moments, as hollow as the drums that accompany the ‘pasos’[1].

The reality in Almuñécar is that, with a population of about 27,000 inhabitants, more than half of them are involved, directly or indirectly, in all the hustle and bustle that surrounds Holy Week. We can see young people, who do not remember God or set foot in a church all year round, weeping disconsolately to see the saint pass by, but once the procession is over, they go to the party organised by their corresponding brotherhood[2]to drink until dawn. There is no glory in this spectacle.

On the other hand, the church should be that light that shines in the darkness, that announces the truth and which lives openly in the love of Christ; that is what we intend and expect from our humble church community.

But although we don’t encourage Christian tourists to enjoy pagan processions, we do encourage visiting believers to take the opportunity, even during their holidays, to visit the local church and worship together with us - a worthwhile experience. It is a great joy and encouragement for us to be able to fellowship with the variety of people we see passing through. We welcome brothers and sisters who come along while on holiday, and want them to feel at home. There are those who come back every year and those we already consider our family, with whom we share beautiful and fond memories, knowing that no matter where we are, when the church comes together, we share the same Spirit and we are all part of the body of Christ, whose we are and for whom we live, and whose glory is all, now and forever.

[1] ’Pasos’ are the floats, or platforms, on which the images are carried in the processions.

[2]The ‘penitents’ are organised in associations called ‘brotherhoods’.

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