Walter Finch
AS Spain’s Semana Santa celebrations draw thousands of visitors, many are startled by the distinctive capirotes worn in processions across the country.
Holy Tuesday was celebrated in Malaga yesterday by penitents from El Rocio brotherhood, who marched through the city with the statues of Christ and the Virgin Mary.
But visitors might have been taken aback when they encountered the solemn processions of people wearing tall conical white hoods parading through the streets.
While these distinctive capirotes bear an uncanny resemblance to the infamous headgear of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK), they represent something entirely different – a centuries-old Catholic tradition of penitence and devotion.
These processions featuring statues of Catholic iconography attract worshippers and tourists from across the globe, making Semana Santa one of Andalucia’s most significant religious and cultural events of the year.
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The capirote’s origins date back to the Spanish Inquisition, when convicted individuals were forced to wear a yellow garment called the saco bendito (blessed robe) along with a cardboard cone.
The cone’s color indicated the person’s sentence – with red signifying execution and the greatest shame.
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Over time, these head coverings were extended to hide wearers’ faces entirely, providing anonymity. Sevillan brotherhoods in the 1600s embraced the capirote for its association with penitence – a fundamental concept in Catholic faith – and from there the tradition spread throughout Spain.
Today’s nazarenos, members of Catholic cofradias (brotherhoods) participating in Semana Santa processions, wear these distinctive hoods to emphasize their status as penitents.
The pointed design is believed to bring the wearer closer to heaven.
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The KKK hood, by contrast, is a much more recent invention.
While America’s notorious hate group formed in 1865 after the Civil War, their early costumes were a haphazard collection of disguises rather than a uniform.
It wasn’t until 1915, when the KKK experienced a revival, that William J Simmons introduced the white hood and robe combination still associated with the group today.
Whether inspired by D.W. Griffith’s controversial film The Birth of a Nation, circus traditions, or possibly even the Catholic capirote, the KKK’s hood represents hatred and racial violence – the polar opposite of the Spanish tradition’s message of religious devotion.
As thousands gather this week to witness the breathtaking Holy Week processions across Spain, visitors can appreciate these ancient traditions for what they truly represent – not hatred, but spiritual reflection and cultural heritage.
