“Tradition is tradition”; “You can’t break a tradition” or “Let them set up their own brotherhood.” These are the main arguments put forward by several brothers to justify their rejection of women being able to procession with them during Holy Week in Sagunto, whose origin dates back to 530 years ago.
The vote held this Sunday afternoon in the hermitage of the Sang del Nostre Senyor Jesucrist, and in which only men participated, was clear: 267 votes against and 114 in favor of modifying an article of the statutes to change the word “men” to “people” in order for the traditional festival to be inclusive.
The majority of attendees broke into intense applause inside the hermitage when the result was announced. They then prayed an Our Father before leaving the temple, where some isolated cries of “shame” were heard from the dozens of people, who had gathered outside called by the Inclusive Holy Week collective.
So women will continue to fix the vestas (the typical black suits with hoods), helping husbands, fathers or children dress, cleaning the hermitage or selling lottery tickets, but they will not be able to go out in the procession in “the same old brotherhood.” “It is a lost historical opportunity,” commented Blanca Ribelles, one of the neighbors who has been promoting for years being able to procession like her father or brother, as is already done in numerous Holy Week festivals in Spain, such as in Seville, Malaga or Lorca, declared festivals of International Tourist Interest.
Many young people who have participated in the conclave have taken the floor to express their rejection of the initiative, according to sources present at the extraordinary assembly, which was held behind closed doors, before the secret vote of the brotherhood that has 1,627 members, of which 403 have voted (there have been 22 abstentions, null and blank votes). Already on the street, the majority of the young people consulted did not want to speak and only a few voices explained that “tradition cannot be broken”, as was reiterated during the turn of interventions inside.
The risk that Holy Week in Sagunto could lose the category of festival of National Tourist Interest (ITN) has been of little use. The Ministry of Industry and Tourism is gathering information to analyze the possibility of revoking due to “lack of participation of citizens (women)” that distinction that it granted to Sagunto in 2004, and that gives prestige to the celebration, gives visibility to the city and forces it to dedicate resources to its promotion. The ministry acted after receiving a query from Sagunto.
Nor has the ruling that the Constitutional Court announced last year regarding a brotherhood in La Laguna (Tenerife) influenced the vote, which upheld the appeal of an excluded woman and declared her right to non-discrimination and free association violated.
Both issues have come up in the assembly, but either they have been downplayed by the defenders of maintaining the statute by which or someone has pointed out that the Constitutional ruling has been appealed to the European court and its judicial journey has not yet concluded.
A brother has told this newspaper that Holy Week in Sagunto does not receive any public aid or subsidy, unlike other similar festivals, and that it is important to maintain the tradition. Another, more veteran, warned of the danger of “controversy” that can divide the people and is in favor of “the ripe fruit falling under its own weight” and not of forcing and breaking tradition. “If women constitute a brotherhood, we can collaborate and have a good relationship,” she indicated.
The result of the vote has been even more refractory to an egalitarian procession than the one obtained four years ago. Then, the brothers, always men, rejected the proposal to modify the statutes by 239 votes against, 125 in favor. 26 years ago, only new brothers supported the initiative for an Inclusive Holy Week.
