Throughout Spain, people of various religious and non-religious backgrounds have a wide range of traditions. For the people in Granada, everyone knows when it is the Dia de la Cruz (Day of the Cross) and Semana Santa (Holy Week) because people's patios and balconies are decorated with lots of colors, and locals fill the streets in the form of parades and festivals.
The traditions I learned about from my host mom are the Dia de la Cruz, or Day of the Cross, and Semana Santa, or Holy Week. Both of these religious traditions take place around Easter in the months of April and May. According to my host mom, people in Granada celebrate the Dia de la Cruz by decorating the outsides of their homes with crosses, and there are neighborhood gatherings with food, drinks, and music. During Semana Santa, there are daily parades through the streets of Granada and, in my host mom's words, "people go to church a little more during this week". Semana Santa begins on Palm Sunday and lasts one week through Easter Sunday. The largest parades take place on the night of Maundy Thursday and into the early morning hours of Good Friday.
