The experience of meeting Gonzalo will go down as one of the highlights of this trip for me! He is, what is known in Spain as, a costalero, the gentlemen who are hidden beneath the religious floats that make their way through the streets during Semana Santa. Every Friday night, for months ahead of Holy Week, these guys train and prepare for the immense task of carrying these pasos (floats). Depending on the size of the paso, there can be anywhere from 30-60 men beneath each one bearing the enormous weight of the statues on their shoulders. When you watch the videos of the rehearsals (called ensayos) you won't see the actual Virgin Mary that will come out during Holy week. In order to simulate the weight that they will need to bear, the have loaded iron planks on top of the structure which are hard to see in the dark. (they don't rehearse until 11:00pm) Gonzalo is in the front left corner (from your point of view) of the grouping. He has an even more specific role as a pata (leg) position since he is responsible for leading the group through turns. The capataz, seen in the maroon sweatshirt will walk ahead of the paso and is responsible for keeping the men heading in the right direction, and offering words of encouragement along the way. The costaleros can be carrying the statues anywhere from 4-14 hours depending on the length of the procession and must work very hard at walking in a smooth and level manner. At the end of the videos I took a picture of what the actual paso looked like last year: with the image of the Virgin Mary in her formal attire, the full canopy and all the candles. I have all my fingers crossed that the weather holds out this year and that I will get the chance to see the actual procession! This was a very cool glimpse into one of the most iconic traditions carried out in Spain!