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A Catholic brotherhood’s decision to exclude women from a Holy Week procession in Sagunto, Spain, has sparked a national debate about tradition and who is allowed to take part in one of the country’s best-known Easter observances.
The controversy began after members of the Puríssima Sang de Nostre Senyor Jesucrist brotherhood voted to keep women out of its procession. The brotherhood said the choice reflected “respect for tradition,” according to the reporting.
Spain’s Holy Week processions are among the most fervently celebrated in the world, with events that vary from hourslong ceremonies in major cities to smaller village observances. Organizers prepare for months, and the processions often culminate in the early hours of Good Friday, when many of the solemn scenes from the Gospels’ accounts of Jesus’ passion and death are staged with large religious floats.
The exclusion in Sagunto drew indignation locally and prompted protests, including pressure on officials from the government and demonstrations by residents in the streets. The dispute also highlighted a broader contrast within Catholic processions across Spain, where women sometimes serve as “portadoras,” carrying floats on their shoulders.
In the province of Córdoba, women in villages such as Baena and Montoro described participation as a matter of faith and community involvement rather than public display. In Baena, for example, women carrying a flower-decked float with a statue of Jesus in prayer were seen through purple hoods, with their roles visible to onlookers.
In Montoro, a local brotherhood member who discussed the issue said men and women should have equal roles, especially because the sacred images carried in procession include both the Virgin Mary and Jesus. Ricardo Ruano, a participant in the local Holy Thursday activities, said his family’s involvement is shared, describing that “In my house I have three daughters, with my wife that’s four, and with me we’re five — and the whole family takes part,” and adding, “We wait for this the whole year, because it’s our favorite.”
Other women in Montoro said they were indignant at the Sagunto decision. Rosa de la Cruz said, “We as women have the same right as a man to go out in the procession,” adding, “We don’t go in a procession so that people look at us, we participate so that they see the image.”
Researchers and religious scholars who study Andalusian traditions said interest in processional roles is sustained even as Spain becomes more secular. Juan Carlos González Faraco, a University of Huelva professor, said he has studied religious traditions in Andalusia including the El Rocío pilgrimage and noted that brotherhood leadership and processional roles have included women for decades, including in lines of hooded “penitents,” even as some of the heaviest floats are still carried only by men.
In Montoro, Mari Carmen Lopez said that while physical strength might vary, men and women share the same feeling. She said, “We go with faith, with devotion, with all our hearts,” and added that men who disregard the role of women “don’t realize they were born of a woman.”