Valladolid information
Holy Week in Medina de Rioseco
This festival is one of the most important manifestations
of Spanish tradition. The images in the processions were made
by the most relevant image-crafters of the 16th and 17th centuries.
The first penitential fraternities of Rioseco were born under
the Franciscans in the local convent in the 15th century. The
historic fraternities of la Vera Cruz, la Quinta Angustia and
Soledad y la Pasión, were reformed into the 16th century that
exist today, with a total of twenty floats. The most important
processions are the Del Mandato on Maundy Thursday, and Del Dolor
on Good Friday.
All the floats are carried on the brothers' shoulders through
the old narrow village streets. Particularly impressive is the
procession called Pasos Grandes (big floats), known locally as
El Longinos and La Escalera, which corresponds with the floats
of The Crucifixion and The Descent from the Cross.