The route has published an anthropological guide to its Holy Week, in which, for the first time, the reality of the religious festival is analyzed with academic rigor from all perspectives.
The President of Caminos de Pasión and mayor of Lucena, Juan Pérez, and the vice president of the route and mayor of Puente Genil, Esteban Morales Sánchez, presented this Tuesday at the delegation of the Junta de Andalucía in Madrid the Lenten program of the tourist route that includes more than one hundred activities including way of the cross, transfers of images, open days, kissing of hands, proclamations, exhibitions of sacred art, concerts of processional marches, recitals of saetas or popular traditions of all kinds.
Thus, until April 18, the ten municipalities of the Caminos de Pasión (Paths of Passion) (Alcalá la Real, in Jaén; Baena, Cabra, Lucena, Priego de Córdoba, and Puente Genil, in Córdoba; and Carmona, Osuna, Écija, and Utrera, in Seville) offer a packed schedule of events surrounding the religious festival, providing tourists with a unique opportunity to discover inland Andalusia from a different perspective. As its president, Juan Pérez, emphasized, “visitors can immerse themselves in these 40 days leading up to Holy Week in a unique and incredibly rich world where gastronomy, heritage, culture, nature, and folklore converge.”
In addition, Caminos de Pasión has presented this year the publication 'Holy Week in Caminos de Pasión. Historical, artistic and anthropological guide', an extensive and thorough volume in which for the first time everything related to the religious festival in the different municipalities of the route is collected with theoretical and academic foundation, "analyzing not only what is seen but everything that is behind it and from all possible angles," Pérez clarified.
In fact, this guide, born from the agreement signed between the Association for the Tourist Development of the route and the Pablo de Olavide University of Seville, is the culmination of research carried out over three years by Salvador Rodríguez Becerra, Professor of Anthropology at the University of Seville, and Salvador Hernández, Professor of Art History at the Pablo de Olavide University. During this time, they gathered testimonies from local researchers, analyzed existing documentation, and experienced the festivities firsthand in order to produce this meticulous study. The guide highlights the incalculable artistic, intangible, and social value of Holy Week in the towns along the route, where, as the president emphasized, “for centuries the festival has served as an integrating and unifying element, shaping a unique cultural, ethnographic, anthropological, heritage, and gastronomic character.”
In this regard, Pérez wanted to highlight Caminos de Pasión's commitment to valuing this important legacy and disseminating and promoting its richness, noting the importance of the publication both to "offer the public an overview of the festival, providing it with its context and exploring its unique characteristics," and to help the route gain leadership on the path to the European Cultural Route, a priority project for Caminos de Pasión.
Along these lines, he pointed out that this festival is “one of the most renowned events nationally and internationally, attracting numerous visitors annually. He also noted that Caminos de Pasión “has successfully designed an excellent tourism product that perfectly adapts to the new profiles and demands of travelers who come not to see anything contrived, but something authentic,” he said.
LENT AND HOLY WEEK
Finally, among the most outstanding events of Lent, Juan Pérez named the Night of Bonfires and Drums of Alcalá la Real, the Misereres of Baena, the Roman Saturdays of Puente Genil, the renowned saeta competitions such as the Exaltation of the Saeta in Carmona or the Carmen Torres Competition in Osuna, the annual concert of marches by the Soledad Coronada Band in Priego de Córdoba, the Open House Days in the Brotherhood Houses and Barracks of Puente Genil or Lucena, the Way of the Cross of the Christ of Silence of Lucena, the curious Passionist Nativity Scene of Cabra, the cofrade tapas festival of Utrera and the penitential Way of the Cross of the Council of Brotherhoods of Écija.
Similarly, “to convey to the youngest children the passion and deep roots with which this festival is experienced and to contribute to the recovery of the local memory of this important heritage,” Caminos de Pasión continues with the program 'With Passion from Childhood,' an activity in which schoolchildren from Andalusian educational centers can make visits and workshops that highlight aspects such as sacred crafts, musical heritage, or floral decoration.
Likewise, with the aim of “advancing and innovating in the offer and providing new resources to travelers” the 'Lenten and Holy Week Cuisine and Pastry Route' continues, with more than one hundred participating establishments that have the distinctive mark.