Immaculate Conception Holiday

December 8th is the festival of the Immaculate Conception. It is taken seriously here. The girls and Rick had Monday and Tuesday off. A few days before signs appeared on the street saying that parking was going to be prohibited from 8:00 a.m. until the end of the procession of Mary. Some drivers didn't believe the signs, I guess, because at 9:00 the parking police arrived, blew their whistles and waited for drivers to appear. When none did, they towed the cars. Now this might seem like a normal consequence for not obeying the signs but it is quite unusual here.

At 11:30 the procession participants lined up. Notice the widows dressed in black on each side of the street. The crowd is silent. They cross themselves as the procession passes. We saw rose petals being tossed onto the procession from balconys above. The cross and bearers were followed by the church officials and then...

Mary being carried on a platform. Although you can't see it here, all of the men carrying the platform are barefoot! At the end of the procession is a brass band. We were awoken by the band at 5 in the morning. I don't know if they were beginning their day or ending it but they were quite festive.