On Easter Sunday, in Almaden de la Plata near Seville, rag and straw effigies of famous people are placed at different locations of the village. These dolls are finally torn apart and the pieces thrown into the air. In Castilblanco de los Arroyos, they place similar dummies in the streets which are later set on fire. The dolls are known as Judas dolls.
In major cities such as Malaga and Seville, members of ancient brotherhoods take out parades. Seville has a total of 52 religious brotherhoods whose members take part in parades that start at first light each day and continue till the wee hours of the morning. The origins of some of these brotherhoods date back to the 13th century when they were bands of men organised to rescue the wounded from battlefields during the re-conquest of Spain by the Moors.
On Palm Sunday, people go to mass in the morning and children carry palm leaves to be blessed by the priest.On Palm Sunday most churches organize a parade to mark the arrival of Christ into Jerusalem. Instead of the small crosses fashioned from part of a single palm frond that are popular in many Protestant churches, the congregations in Spain carry huge, leafy palm or olive branches that have been blessed in the church.
