It is a boomer thing to declare Easter inaugurated when Judah Ben-Hur appears on the television screen with the face of Charlton Heston. The new digital audience is unfaithful by nature and this year has replaced the most famous epic scene in cinema with a chariot race with the president of Murcia dressed as a Roman emperor. Fernando López Miras could share the stature or nickname with Teodosio I, the Great, but, despite the fury of the Murcians, Juan Carlos I de Loca Avenue does not achieve on screen the luster of the 73,000 square meters that were set up in the studios Romans of Cinecittá.
Four white horses of pure Spanish breeding, five weeks of filming, three months of editing and 32 exciting minutes of action for the history of cinema. López Miras solves his career in a couple of minutes and thousands of views. The baron of the PP went between Friday and Saturday from emperor to costalero, while the Councilor for Culture and Identity (sic) of Murcia presents to the X world “Isabelita, la Toloya, singing in Guinea, with Paco de los Huevos” waiting for her on the street. Next in line are the Pichi, the Chota and the Durico with the beans from their garden prepared to be thrown into “the sena”.
Tradition is tradition even if it forces us to make unfortunate clarifications in the 21st century. “Not Ku Klux Klan. “Spanish tradition”. The poster reappears every Easter on our screens since 2019 thanks to the prevention of the Confitería El Pópulo, in Cádiz, which displays its clay penitents – three euros – in the window only during these days. Let it be clear: “We are not racists.” It seems that in a decade only one person fell into the horrible confusion but the little sign is now social media history. Also the storms that leave the steps inside the chapels; and the hugs of Antonio Banderas consoling the brothers of the Virgin of Tears and Favors, although the favor would be that it rains… a lot.
Devotion is not at odds with politics: the rosary prayers continue in front of the PSOE headquarters. Not even with the business. In Seville, Malaga or Granada it is common to rent balconies, terraces and windows on the route of the steps with prices that can reach up to 10,000 euros. What tradition hides is that it must be declared to the Treasury… The income campaign is underway. Curious coincidence with the Twitter calendar: Every March 25, the Church remembers Saint Dimas, the Good Thief, considered the first saint of the Catholic Church. Are there any good ones?
