A few hours ago, the images of the statue of a burning virgin during a procession they flooded social networks. It was about the Virgen del Rocío of the brotherhood of La Pollinica, who has been engulfed in fire this Palm Sunday in the Malaga town of Vélez-Málaga after falling one of the candles. The flames have burned at least the skirt, one arm, part of the virgin’s face and her hair. And several people who climbed on the throne to try to put it out with their hands until the fire extinguishers arrived, suffered minor injuries.
Some fork makers had to lie on the ground because of the smoke, people ran from one side to another in panic and the attendees watched their patron saint melt in horror. Come on, chaos.
It has not been an isolated case. Last Friday in the church of San Telmo in Chiclana, the cloak of the image of María Santísima de los Desconsuelos was burned, which suffered severe damage to the polychrome image and to the right hand, although there were no injuries. It was also caused by the fall of a sail. And a few hours ago, the Virgin of Grace in Almadén de la Plata (Seville) suffered another fire that has caused big damage on the altar in which the patron saint was located. The first hypotheses suggest that the fire was caused by a short circuit at the rear of the altarpiece.
In less than three days, four images have been affected by the fire. What is happening this Holy Week? The president of the Junta de Andalucía, Juanma Moreno, after several similar events, regretted the “damage to historical heritage”. But the truth is that fire is not only a problem for celebrations, but a danger to all investment (economically speaking) that takes place during these religious festivities.
More on the Vélez-Málaga fire pic.twitter.com/vLHmAKqzR6
— elllamadorcsr (@elllamadorcsr) April 2, 2023
Hundreds of thousands of euros of investment
The cost that a brotherhood assumes to go out on the street is gigantic. It must be taken into account that the virgins come out decorated with gold and silver crowns, hand-embroidered cloaks of enormous value, daggers with precious pieces, cufflinks with sapphires and a multitude of jewels. The price of a starting cloak, for example, can range between €80,000 and €350,000. Between six and eight people work there for two years, as explained by the director of the Sucesores de Esperanza workshop, Elena Caro, in this article.
And it’s not just the cloak or the jewelry. As explained in this other report from Diario de Jerez, the basket alone is usually around €6,000. The biggest cost comes from the design of the wood carving, which varies between €100,000 and €300,000. The base on which the image of Mary is mounted can cost around €120,000 and the candlestick set, which is usually 90 pieces, up to €80,000. Tail chandeliers with between 10 and 12 lights are around €6,000 each. The cheapest (apart from the flowers) is the stretcher and it already has a cost of about €4,000.
Disbursing that amount of money, it does not surprise us at all that a few years ago they cut off and stole the head of a virgin with her crown in the middle of Holy Week in the Brotherhood of Nuestra Señora de La Estrella in the municipality of Los Santos de Maimona, in Badajoz.
And we are not surprised that some towns have had to establish a rule by which the brotherhoods have to pass a kind of ITV for Holy Week steps. Those of Tarragona must now comply with security measures established in a Self-protection Plan: carry a fire extinguisher, check the battery and make a tune-up to the brakes and steering. On the other hand, the Public Security School of the Malaga City Council (Espam) and the Association of Brotherhoods have also presented some indications and a guide to the brotherhoods of the city for the creation of self-protection plans.
In fact, Royal Decree 393/2007 already established measures to facilitate action in the event of an emergency. Self-protection plans designed for any incident such as fainting, fire or a fall. And, among the measures provided for events held in the street are the existence of a first-aid kit and the presence of fire extinguishers in the thrones, which have been mandatory for a few years. Although, magically, they never arrive on time.
Images: Twitter
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