This procession of Jueves Santo (Maundy Thursday) organised by the Cofradía de Nuestro Señor en la Columna y María Santísima de la Caridad is dedicated to the scourging of Christ. The float of the scourging (carried by a huge number of costaleros) is followed by the statue of the Blessed Mary of Charity. Not being a Roman Catholic, I’m not sure how the different aspects of the Marian cult link with the various steps of Christ’s Passion; but it would appear that each guild is responsible for one stage of the Passion and one aspect of Mary’s nature as an intercessor. There were four different processions in Úbeda on Thursday and this was being repeated to a greater or lesser extent all over Andalucía!

What amazed me about the processions was how packed the medieval streets were with thousands of onlookers, either spirituals or tourists, how well behaved the crowds were and how little police presence there was. Self-regulation does occasionally work!