Semana Santa

As you might guess, Semana Santa is Holy Week, or as some know it, Easter, or Pascua as is known in Spain/spanish speaking countries.
Unlike what we experience in the United States, Semana Santa is very uncommercialized. granted this is coming from a person who doesnt watch spanish tv, but it seems that the traditions and rites in Spain hold Semana Santa in the highest regard.
Spain is a predominately catholic country but only 14% actually practice regularly. As one of my professors said, all the people who participate in Semana Santa (explication later) are those who dont practice regularly and feel the need to devote their time and energy all in one straight shot, not every sunday for a WHOLE year.
Semana Santa is a intense and intricate process. Keep in context that these ceremonies have been going on for centuries, that keep entering my mind and my mind was continuously blown. There are "floats" that are carried in a procession every night (through Holy week ending on Easter sunday). These floats are symbols of the catholic religion (Jesus on the cross and the Virgin Mary) and they are on a "float" that are carried by penitents. The floats are decorated in lights, candles, and flowers. There are lots of blues and purples around the city, a royal purple being the color of Semana Santa.
The penitents are the people that participate in the processions. There are different kinds such as the men, the women, and children.The men have the most curious costumes, to us Americans. The penitents are dressed all in one color, with a belt, some have rosaries tied around the belt, some have collar scarfs etc. the main thing that is curious is their head coverings. The idea behind them being "penitents" is that they are asking forgiveness for their sin of putting Jesus on the cross. They have full head coverings that cover their face like executioners from the 1400-1700s? (executioners of Jesus/executioners of people like Anne Boleyn etc). Also their hats dont just end at covering their faces.  They continue to rise above their head and end in a point, kind of like medieval princesses or...the KKK...yea. It was like a procession of KKK people. All that i did was kept the procession in Semana Santa context and everything was fine, it was completely normal for the Spaniards viewing the procession.
The processions go throughout the night, and in Sevilla, where it is most popular, nothing starts until like 2am and goes all early morning and such. Easter is actually religious in Spain. Having an actual religious experience this easter has been a breath of fresh air and i will miss it very dearly next year.