Under the hood

Under the hood

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For centuries, robed penitents around Spain have taken part in solemn processions to mark Holy Week.

Their long gowns and pointed hoods - which bear an unfortunate resemblance to the Ku Klux Klan, though they are in no way connected to that organisation - give them a mysterious air. But a peak beneath the hood shows them as ordinary men and women.

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Slideshow

A penitent of the San Gonzalo brotherhood holds a mobile phone under his hood as he takes part in a Holy Week procession.
. SEVILLE, Spain. REUTERS/Marcelo del Pozo

A penitent of the San Gonzalo brotherhood holds a mobile phone under his hood as he takes part in a Holy Week procession.

A young penitent from the "Via Crucis" brotherhood adjusts her hood.
. Santiago de Compostela, Spain. REUTERS/Miguel Vidal

A young penitent from the "Via Crucis" brotherhood adjusts her hood.

A penitent gazes upwards.
. Santiago de Compostela, Spain. REUTERS/Miguel Vidal

A penitent gazes upwards.

Twenty-eight-year-old Patricia Calvo waits inside a church before taking part in a procession.
. MALAGA, Spain. REUTERS/Jon Nazca

Twenty-eight-year-old Patricia Calvo waits inside a church before taking part in a procession.

A child looks over the shoulder of a penitent from the "Cartujos" brotherhood before a Palm Sunday procession.
. PALMA DE MALLORCA, Spain. REUTERS/Enrique Calvo

A child looks over the shoulder of a penitent from the "Cartujos" brotherhood before a Palm Sunday procession.

Blue-robed penitents wait inside a church.
. MALAGA, Spain. REUTERS/Jon Nazca

Blue-robed penitents wait inside a church.

A penitent adjusts his hood as he stands by a wall in Seville.
. SEVILLE, Spain. REUTERS/Marcelo del Pozo

A penitent adjusts his hood as he stands by a wall in Seville.

A young woman waits in the shade before the procession of "La Sangre" brotherhood.
. MADRID, Spain. REUTERS/Javier Barbancho

A young woman waits in the shade before the procession of "La Sangre" brotherhood.

A penitent adjusts her hood before the procession of the "Merced" brotherhood.
. CORDOBA, Spain. REUTERS/Javier Barbancho

A penitent adjusts her hood before the procession of the "Merced" brotherhood.