Traditional Palm Sunday procession

THE Palm Sunday procession in Palma opened with the Mounted Police, followed by the City Hall Drummers, and the confraternities of Our Lady of Mt Carmel from Coll d'en Rebassa and Santo Cristo of Arenal. Instead of candles, the hooded penitents carried palm and olive branches and many of the groups were accompanied by bands.
Most of the religious confraternities took part in the procession, some of them carrying pasos or floats with sculpted groups representing scenes from the Passion and Death of Christ. The oldest of the confraternities, the Cross of Calatrava, founded in 1902, carried one of its four pasos.
The procession was brought to a close by the Santiago confraternity, with its paso depicting Christ's entry into Jerusalem, the work of Majorcan sculptor Jaume Mir and the municipal band. A lot of children took part in the parade. Like the penitents, they wore robes and cloaks and were kept busy distributing sweets to the hundreds of people lining the pavements. Earlier in the day, the Bishop of Majorca, Mgr Teodor Ubeda presided the blessing and distribution of palm and olive fronds at the Sant Pere i Sant Bernat residence for priests. This ceremony usually takes place in the courtyard of the Bishop's Palace which is currently closed for repairs.
The route for today's procession can be found on the What's On page.