Semana Santa in Costa Rica is a time for spiritual reflection.

‘Semana Santa’, Costa Rica’s version of Spring Break when just about the entire country comes to a standstill, began this past Monday. This weeklong event was historically a religious holiday and although a few still closely follow the Catholic traditions, it has become something else entirely for most people today. Some government offices and businesses have closed up for the week, while the majority of businesses will have their last day today, including banks, and be closed until the following Monday. It is actually illegal to obligate anyone to work on those days as they are declared national holidays.

Although Costa Rica’s official religion is Catholicism, very few Ticos today really follow Catholic teachings to the letter. This being said, Semana Santa is still a time when Costa Rican’s take advantage of their time off to be with their families and friends. For many though, this also is an excuse to party and go to the beach.

A Few Semana Santa Traditions

Lagarteada
In a small town in Santa Cruz, Guanacaste a 150 year old Semana Santa tradition still survives. This tradition is called a “lagarteada” and involves a rowdy bunch of people, mostly men as you can imagine, jumping into a murky river on Good Friday and herding a full-size alligator into submission with their bare hands. The unlucky alligator that is captured is tied up and carried into town where it spends a few days in a special pen built for the special occasion. The MINAE (Ministerio de Ambiente y Energía), Costa Rica’s Environmental Protection Agency has given this crazy event its blessing with the condition that the alligator is returned unharmed to its home.

Via crucis or Procesión
The religious tradition of the “Via Crucis” or “Via Dolorosa” in Latin - you may know it as the Way of the Cross – is an event held on Good Friday. It is a religious representation of the journey Jesus Christ made bearing the weight of the Cross. For this event, you will see a large turnout and participants wear full period costumes and drummers loudly announce the passing of the parade. This is an interesting tradition to witness, no matter what your religious inclination is.

Películas de Semana Santa
Semana Santa is infamous for the all day TV marathons where classics such as Ben Hur and The Ten Commandments are played. Most Ticos grew up with these religious movies in the background and they are still worthwhile to watch (if you have 3-4 hours to spare) as they are part of Hollywood’s Golden Age with amazing actors and cinematic productions.

Traditional Foods
As is common all around the world, every special holiday has its own set of traditional foods. During Semana Santa, some of the things you’ll see are ‘Chiverre’ which is a type of squash made into a sweet preserve and used to flavor breads and pastries. It is also traditional for people to avoid beef these days so expect a lot of fish to be on the menu.

Drive Safely

Back in the old days, as recently as 30 or 40 years ago, many still considered it a Sin to ride a car on Good Friday. In some neighborhoods people would even go to the extreme of throwing stones at cars being driven that day. Although this is not something to worry about today, you should be careful about drunk drivers on the road. Just this past weekend, before Semana Santa even got started, 15 cars were impounded because of driving under the influence. As the week progresses, things are likely to get worse. Don’t do as many irresponsible Tico’s do - Don’t Drink & Drive this Semana Santa.

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Filed under: Travel on March 19th, 2008