Bilbao's Holy Week, almost every year, has an unexpected guest: the rain. This year, the bad weather was no exception, forcing the suspension of four out of the fourteen scheduled processions and marring the end of the Nazareno procession, perhaps the most emblematic due to the saetas sung from the balconies of Las Cortes as it passes. Nevertheless, the brotherhoods issued a positive assessment of these festive days on Monday, noting that despite the adverse weather, more devotees and public participated in the processions.
“"The brotherhoods can feel satisfied because the rain did not prevent a visible increase in the number of devotees, estimated at over 4,350, as well as the public."
As happened last year, rain was once again a protagonist during the first days of these festivities, “forcing the brotherhoods to keep looking at the sky and react to the rain and its threat.” Four processions had to be suspended, and some of the 36 processional floats, “dated between the 17th and 21st centuries, which form part of the historical and cultural heritage of the brotherhoods,” could not be brought out.
On Passion Saturday morning, the 28th, rain forced the Brotherhood of Begoña to suspend the Procession of Charity and replace it with the recitation of the Rosary at the Parish of the Cross, involving three bands. The Nazareno Procession, presided over by Bishop Joseba Segura, set out under persistent, “increasingly heavy rain, which caused the rest of the brotherhoods to gradually abandon the procession, completely soaked,” leaving only the Brotherhood of the Nazareno to finish. “Regrettably, this detracted from the listening of Juanjo Navas's saetas in Euskera, which were heard again,” Diago recalled.
The public has once again made clear its appreciation for the processions of Bilbao's Holy Week.
The same occurred on Wednesday, when the Vera Cruz brotherhood replaced the Procession of Solitude with a salve at the door of Santos Juanes, “where a large number of people had gathered,” and on Maundy Thursday, a day Diago did not hesitate to describe as “fateful,” as neither of the day's two processions could be held.
The bad weather, however, did not deter public attendance at the events. “The public has once again made clear with their presence in the streets their appreciation for the processions of Bilbao's Holy Week, despite the inclement weather, with this year particularly highlighting the Procession of Silence and the Magna Procession of the Holy Burial, in the early morning and afternoon of Good Friday, respectively,” emphasized the head of the Brotherhood. “The most surprising thing is that this loyalty of the Bilbao public was especially evident in their attendance at the substitute events for the suspended processions organized by the brotherhoods, where the public filled the temples or their surroundings.”
The Brotherhood of Brotherhoods wished to thank Bilbao's hospitality sector for its “involvement” in the celebration of Holy Week, “with its gastronomic offer” led by the Nazareno pintxo. “This year, 15 establishments from the San Francisco, Zabala, and Bilbao La Vieja areas participated, at the request of their Merchants' Association and BilbaoHistoriko, who also contribute to enabling the presence of saeta singers, in Spanish and Euskera, and the castanet school during the passage of the Nazareno procession,” Diago highlighted.
The devotees extended this gratitude to the Bilbao Municipal Music Band which, “for years, on the afternoon of Dolores Friday, just before the first procession, offers a Holy Week Music Concert in the Church of Santos Juanes and participates in the Maundy Thursday and Good Friday Processions.”
