The Good, The Bad and The Ugly of the Holy Week in Antigua Guatemala

Rudy Giron: Antigua Guatemala &emdash; The Holy Week Is Officially Over © Rudy Giron

The Holy Week Is Officially Over!

Yes, it’s official, the Semana Santa is over. Now, it is time to ponder over the good, the bad and the ugly of the Holy Week in Antigua Guatemala.

The Good
It is incredible how much good energy one can feel from so many people having an awesome time. I enjoyed seeing people getting together to create the colourful carpets. Also, I don’t know if it was different than other years, but I felt safe and there’s plenty of police in almost every corner. Of course, this could be a bad sign, depending how one reads it. There was also plenty of INGUAT people on the streets helping with maps, instructions and whatever, as well as many information kiosks in the parks.

The Bad
As always, parking is scarce. Now, it is ridiculous, in my humble opinion, to have to pay for a marbete, parking ticket banner, so one can park on the streets, yet there was almost nowhere to park. If you are going to be paying for private parking, then don’t pay the marbete. As I mentioned yesterday, I don’t know if it is good etiquete or correct for cucuruchos to be taking photos within the procession. I mean there are some cucuruchos who try keep photographers away from the processional route and push photographers to the sidelines, but I didn’t see them doing the same with cucuruchos with cameras. Also, some cucurucho photographers are using long sticks to their cameras up high to the pictures; of course, all those sticks are showing up on people’s pictures.

The ugly
Many streets, especially Calle del Arco, have turned into ambulant markets to the point that it actually feels as one is walking inside a mercado. I guess everyone has to make a living, but perhaps it is a bit too much. Of course the trash was everywhere, and even though I saw cleaning crews, these were not enough. Other thing that was horrible was the urine stench all over town, especially after Good Friday. Once again, perhaps the the temporary public toilets were not enough for all the people on the streets.

Of course, these point are barely scratching the surface, as there are many, many things that we can add to each section. Can you help us expand the good, the bad and the ugly of the Holy Week in Antigua Guatemala?

© 2015 – 2020, Rudy Giron. All rights reserved.

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