Real Hermandad Santa María de los Remedios (Estepona)

Familia, unión, trabajo, equipo, fe, = HERMANDAD

Hermandad que acoge a la imagen de la Protectora Perpetua de Estepona

Cette église mérite le détour

La vi x fuera

This is one of the main Hermandades in Estepona.• Hermandad del Stmo. Cristo del Amor, Ntra. Sra. de la Esperanza• Hermandad del Stmo Cristo de la Vera+Cruz• Hermandad Santa María de los Remedios• Hermandad Jesús Cautivo Estepona• Hermandad Ntra. Sra. del Carmen Coronada, Patrona de Estepona• Ilustre Hermandad del Rocio de Estepona• Venerable Hermandad de San Isidro Labrador -Patrón de Estepona• Hermandad Infantil EsteponaWith the over-arching organisation for the Holy Week processions:• Agrupación de Hermandades y Cofradías de Semana Santa EsteponaThese are religious organisations, but their activities are religious, charitable, social, cultural and musical. They organise charity collections (e.g. groceries for the food banks, toys for presents), cook large-scale meals, set up wonderful Christmas Cribs, decorate street altars for Corpus Christi and other Holy Days, set up and decorate the beautiful Street Crosses for the Cruces de Mayo festival.And they provide the mainstream celebrations in Estepona with their Pilgrimages and Processions for Holy Week and other Holy Days.Estepona is special because it has two different types of floats in the processions.Estepona used to be a poor town, so the Hermandades bought second-hand floats to carry their Holy Statues. Some of them bought from Malaga, the “tronos” with long exterior poles, often covered with silver or beautifully carved, and the bearers (called portadores or hombres de trono) outside.Other Hermandades bought “pasos” from Seville, where the bearers are in the dark, underneath the float, carrying the weight – sometimes a ton or more – on the back of their necks. They wear special cloths wrapped round their heads with a pad at the back of the neck where the wooden structure rests, and a long piece of material going down their back to catch their sweat.These undercover bearers are called “costaleros” - there's a statue in Calle Real.Hermandad Santa Maria de los Remedios has tronos with hombres de trono and long poles in their processions.There are at least two floats in each procession, with Christ at the front and the Virgin at the back. The Virgin’s float is much larger and more elaborate, and has a canopy. At the front of both floats is a bell or a knocker, which the Float Leader – a chap in a smart suit wearing the emblem of the Hermandad – uses to give instructions to the bearers.He will ring the bell or give a sharp knock to tell them to turn a corner, to put the float down for a rest, or when it’s time to lift it up and start off again. When they lift it up they get applause from the watchers – including you, so be ready! Other occasions when you need to clap is when they do a “subida a pulso” – lifting the poles up high on their outstretched arms, like a set of dumbbells. It must be painful with that weight up high!The procession starts with a Standard-bearer from the Hermandad, someone carrying a cross, the parish priest, probably the Chief of Police and a few other dignitaries. They are followed by the “nazarenos” or “penitentes” – the ones that you most associate with these processions.The nazarenos are dressed in satin tunics, different colours for each Hermandad and procession, with girdles, the Hermandad badge, and a hood – either pointed or floppy – that covers their face.You may also see “promesas” – people who made a vow that they would walk in the procession in exchange for God answering their prayer. These people often walk barefooted (for 5 hours!) One year there were two who were walking backwards!There are also “mantillas”. These are the official women mourners for the death of Christ. Dressed from head to high-heeled toe in black, they wear the high combs and black lace mantillas of tradition.They have an “Encuentro” for some of the processions . What happens is that two statues – one of Christ, one of the Virgin – do a sort of dance, rocking from side to side, moving back and forward, bowing to each other. All this while the bearers are bearing an enormous weight.