Crowds throng Seville as curb-free Easter processions return to Spain

Spanish legionnaires carry a statue of the Christ of Mena outside a church, during a ceremony ahead of the Mena brotherhood procession, after processions were cancelled for the last two years due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, in Malaga, Spain, April 14, 2022. REUTERS/Jon Nazca

For the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic began, crowds thronged the streets of Seville as one of Spain's most iconic Easter processions wound its way through the city from midnight free of social distancing curbs.

Known as La Madrugá, or The Dawn, the procession features penitents who wear pointed black hoods and carry a float of the Virgin of Hope of Macarena from the city's cathedral.