 | This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations .(April 2010) |
 | This article may require copy editing for grammar, style, cohesion, tone, or spelling.(April 2024) |
The Fiesta de las Cruces ("Festival of the Crosses") or Cruz de Mayo ("May Cross") is a holiday celebrated on 3 May in many parts of Spain and Hispanic America.
Religiously, the festival is rooted in the legendary search by Byzantine Empress Saint Helena for the cross on which Jesus died, but the popular traditions connected to the festival certainly trace back to pagan traditions brought to Spain by the Roman Empire (see May Day ).
The legend is that Emperor Constantine I, in the sixth year of his reign, confronted the barbarians on the banks of the Danube, in a battle where victory was believed to be impossible because of the great size of the enemy army. One night, Constantine had a vision of a cross in the sky, and by it the words "In hoc signo vincis" (With this sign, you shall be victorious). The emperor had a cross made and put it at the front of his army, which won an easy victory over the enemy multitude. On returning to the city and learning the significance of the cross, Constantine was baptized as a Christian and gave orders to construct Christian churches. He sent his mother, Saint Helena, to Jerusalem in search of the True Cross, the cross on which Jesus died. Once there, Helena summoned the wisest priests to aid in her attempt to find the cross. On Calvary hill, traditionally considered the site of Jesus's crucifixion, she found three bloody logs hidden. In order to discover which was the True Cross, she placed the logs one by one over sick people, and even dead people, who were cured or resuscitated at the touch of the True Cross. The veneration of the True Cross, and the use of pieces of the True Cross as relics, begins at this time. Saint Helena died praying for all believers in Christ to celebrate the commemoration of the day the Cross was found.
The "Fiesta de las Cruces" is celebrated in numerous places in Spain and Hispanoamerica.
Various groups of people - usually linked to the Hermandades, the religious Brotherhoods who organise the Easter Week processions, get together and decorate a tall cross with flowers.
They choose a pretty square or street, and also decorate the area around the cross with typical and traditional items. A guitar. An embroidered shawl. Old earthenware pots. Even an old-fashioned sewing machine! For the cross of the Hermandad de Nuestra Señora del Carmen, Queen of the Sea, they use fishing nets and tackle. For San Isidro the Ploughman Saint, they have crops and traditional foodstuff.
They set out these beautiful items, redolent of the past and of the traditions of the town, making an artistic display that everyone comes to admire.
Although it is normally one of the Brotherhoods decorating the crosses, it can also be a group of friends and neighbours, a youth group, a Charity, who get together to produce these lovely events.
The Departments of Antioquia, Caldas, Quindío, and Risaralda, and the municipality of Funza, diocese of Facatativá, have a large population of Basque descent, who carry on the tradition of the Día de la Santa Cruz ("Day of the Holy Cross") or Día de los Mil Jesuses ("Day of the Thousand Jesuses") on 3 May. People speak the name of Jesus one thousand times, and believe this will protect them through the coming year.[ citation needed ]
Most of Guatemala celebrates the Fiesta de las Cruces largely in a symbolic and respectful manner, with colorful processions.
The construction equipment and materials retailer FFACSA, one of Guatemala's leading businesses, sponsors a large and less traditional celebration in Chimaltenango Department. That celebration begins at 6 p.m. on 2 May with a celebration of the eucharist in honor of the Holy Cross. On 3 May people begin to gather at 3 a.m. and parade through the streets of various municipalities of the department, after which there are various sporting activities (including mountain biking and a marathon). At noon, roughly 3,000 construction workers gather for lunch at FFACSA's various branch offices (in Quetzaltenango, Sacatepéquez, Totonicapán) and at their central site in Chimaltenango. After lunch there are raffles, with prizes such as motorcycles, bicycles, televisions, DVD players, and household appliances. At 4 p.m. there is an open-air concert at the park in the center of Chimaltenango, again with raffles and prizes, and from 7 p.m. there are fireworks competitions.
In Mexico, the celebration of the Holy Cross began at the dawn of the 16th century, when captain Juan de Grijalva gave the name Isla de la Santa Cruz to the island now known as Cozumel, Quintana Roo. The holiday is celebrated in Mexico mainly by guilds and unions involved in construction. A cross adorned with flowers and paper is placed in a high position on a building in the process of construction. The workers then celebrate with local cuisine and alcoholic beverages such as tequila, mezcal, and local beer.
In El Salvador, the Day of the Cross ("Día de la Cruz" in Spanish), as it is known, is celebrated on May 3. This celebration is not considered an official government or church holiday; it only marks the beginning of the "wet" or rainy season in winter. It is a tradition that dates back to prehispanic times during which the indigenous people of the region (Pipiles) offered food to give thanks to the gods and Mother Earth for what they provided. The cross was added when the tradition fused with Catholicism during the colonial period. The cross is made from wood, and decorated with flowers and long chains of colorful tissue paper. Fruits, grains, vegetables, drinks, candies and sometimes money are placed at the foot of the cross as offerings. Visitors to the household are invited to take offerings with them after they kneel in front of the cross and recite a thanksgiving prayer.
In Lopinot, Trinidad, parang is performed at the Cruz de Mayo (May Cross) festival, a ritual whose performance strongly mirrors the contemporary Santa Rosa Festival and was likely the source of its patterning. The Cruz de Mayo celebrates the month of Mary, and is also when the maypole is performed, which has even more significance for the Caribs as it was amalgamated into their traditions of weaving the sebucán, their cassava strainer (the dance around the maypole, weaving the ribbons together, is seen as mimicking the weaving of the sebucán). [3]
Transport in Spain is characterised by a network of roads, railways, trams, air routes, and ports. Its geographic location makes it an important link between Europe, Africa, and the Americas. Major forms of transit generally radiate from the capital, Madrid, located in the centre of the country, to link with the capitals of the autonomous communities.
Spanish postal codes were introduced on 1 July 1984, when the Sociedad Estatal de Correos y Telégrafos introduced automated mail sorting. They consist of five numerical digits, where the first two digits, ranging 01 to 52, correspond either to one of the 50 provinces of Spain or to one of the two autonomous cities on the African coast.
Caravaca de la Cruz, often shortened to Caravaca, is a town and municipality of southeastern Spain in the region of Murcia, near the left bank of the River Argos, a tributary of the Segura. It is the capital of the northwest Region of Murcia. It has a population of 26,449 as of 2010. In 1900, it had 15,846 inhabitants.
Spain has many coats of arms: the nation has one, the reigning monarch and the heir presumptive each have one, and there are others for the institutions of state and for Spanish regions and towns.
Holy Week in Spain is the annual tribute of the Passion of Jesus Christ celebrated by Catholic religious brotherhoods and fraternities that perform penance processions on the streets of almost every Spanish city and town during the Holy Week –the last week of Lent, immediately before Easter–.
Bien de Interés Cultural is a category in the Spanish heritage register. It covers various types of cultural heritage, which fall into sub-categories such as monuments, historic gardens, etc.
Holy Week in Salamanca is the most important religious event of Salamanca, Spain. It is celebrated in the week leading up to Easter.
This is the results breakdown of the Congress of Deputies election held in Spain on 20 November 2011. The following tables show detailed results in each of the country's 17 autonomous communities and in the autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla, as well as a summary of constituency and regional results.
This is the results breakdown of the Congress of Deputies election held in Spain on 9 March 2008. The following tables show detailed results in each of the country's 17 autonomous communities and in the autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla, as well as a summary of constituency and regional results.
This is the results breakdown of the Congress of Deputies election held in Spain on 26 June 2016. The following tables show detailed results in each of the country's 17 autonomous communities and in the autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla, as well as a summary of constituency and regional results.
This is the results breakdown of the Congress of Deputies election held in Spain on 29 October 1989. The following tables show detailed results in each of the country's 17 autonomous communities and in the autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla, as well as a summary of constituency and regional results.
This is the results breakdown of the Congress of Deputies election held in Spain on 6 June 1993. The following tables show detailed results in each of the country's 17 autonomous communities and in the autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla, as well as a summary of constituency and regional results.
This is the results breakdown of the Congress of Deputies election held in Spain on 12 March 2000. The following tables show detailed results in each of the country's 17 autonomous communities and in the autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla, as well as a summary of constituency and regional results.
This is the results breakdown of the Congress of Deputies election held in Spain on 1 March 1979. The following tables show detailed results in each of the country's 17 autonomous communities and in the autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla, as well as a summary of constituency and regional results.
This is the results breakdown of the local elections held in Andalusia on 22 May 2011. The following tables show detailed results in the autonomous community's most populous municipalities, sorted alphabetically.
This is the results breakdown of the local elections held in Andalusia on 24 May 2015. The following tables show detailed results in the autonomous community's most populous municipalities, sorted alphabetically.
This is the results breakdown of the European Parliament election held in Spain on 26 May 2019. The following tables show detailed results in each of the country's 17 autonomous communities and in the autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla.
The history of the territorial organization of Spain, in the modern sense, is a process that began in the 16th century with the dynastic union of the Crown of Aragon and the Crown of Castile, the conquest of the Kingdom of Granada and later the Kingdom of Navarre. However, it is important to clarify the origin of the toponym Spain, as well as the territorial divisions that existed previously in the current Spanish territory.