Durango’s Holy Week will not take to the streets this year. For the first time in four decades, the Vera Cruz Brotherhood has suspended the processions due to the lack of generational replacement, a situation that has been worsening for years.
According to local media, the decision affects a tradition with documented roots since 1435, considered the oldest in Bizkaia.
A centuries-old tradition that is interrupted
The Vera Cruz Brotherhood has been for centuries the axis of Holy Week in the Biscayan municipality. In its contemporary stage, it had managed to remain active during the last decades, but the progressive decline in participants has finally prevented the organization of the processions.
This year’s suspension represents an unprecedented event in the recent memory of the locality.
Lack of replacement and dependence on new participants
Brotherhood officials point out that the crisis is not recent, although on this occasion it has reached a definitive point. In recent years, the continuity of the processions had depended to a large extent on the participation of people from other countries.
As one of its veteran members explains, without the collaboration of people from Ecuador, Colombia, or Senegal, the processions would not have been able to be held during the last decade, due to the scarce local participation.
From the initial impulse to the progressive decline
The modern stage of Holy Week in Durango was marked by the impulse of the priest known as Father Zabala, who promoted the involvement of various groups to sustain the tradition.
For years, the organization relied on groups linked to different regions, which allowed maintaining the activity. However, after his death, participation gradually decreased.
The lack of carriers even led to introducing wheels on the floats about a decade ago, a measure that allowed prolonging the processions, but which has not avoided their current suspension.
Contrast with San Sebastián
The situation in Durango coincides in time with different initiatives in nearby localities. In San Sebastián, for example, the recovery of Holy Week processions has recently been promoted after more than six decades without being held.
According to what the parish priest of the Cathedral of the Good Shepherd, Jon Molina, told Infovaticana, the initiative has managed to gather several hundred participants, which has allowed organizing these events again in the Guipuzcoan capital.
Uncertainty about the future
This year’s suspension raises questions about the continuity of the tradition in Durango. From the brotherhood, the expectation is maintained that in the future the activity can be resumed if sufficient replacement occurs.
Although the processions will not be held, the Good Friday Way of the Cross is scheduled to take place, which will cover the route between Santa Ana and Tabira.
For the moment, Holy Week in Durango will take place without its traditional processional parades, awaiting a possible reactivation in coming years.