The highlight of this Holy Week is its ostentatiousness.
This fiesta is also known as the 'Whites and the Blues'. Although there are other fraternities in Lorca, these two are the most important and there is a clear rivalry between them. The grand procession takes place in what is known as 'La Carrera'. There are people dressed as Roman emperors, Egyptian troops, Roman gods in heavy carriages, chariots and on horseback, and sculptures of virgins with rich embroidered robes, luxurious standards, and so on. The standard of the 'Prayer in the Garden' (white), better known as 'the floral cloth', is noteworthy.
The most highly anticipated floats include Cleopatra, carried on the shoulders of Egyptian troops, or the Antichrist, with its demonic appearance. There are also chariot races. On Holy Thursday and Good Friday, the town is a splash of colour, gold and sliver in a Baroque procession where the Brotherhood (white and blue) try to be the best. The Whites gather round the Virgin of the Affliction, while the patron saint of the Blues is the Virgin of the Suffering.
Easter week is one of the most spectacular and emotional fiestas here. Religious devotion, art, colour and music combine in acts to commemorate the death of Jesus Christ: the processions. Members of the different Easter brotherhoods, dressed in their characteristic robes, parade through the streets carrying religious statues (pasos) to the sound of drums and music – scenes of sober beauty.
