It was institutionally created by the Catholic Monarchs as Main Festival after the conquest of the city. The model of Seville was copied as it was the most sumptuous of Spain.The parade (“procesión”) in honour to the custody that contained the body of Jesus Christ was formed by all the parrish churches of the city and its valley who, furthermore, were the responsible of covering with sedge the surface all over the route. Since its beginning, the archbishop Hernando de Talavera tried to get all the sectors of the population involved so in the parade where also Moorish “zambras” as well as different carts with plays and theater representations. The “procesión” became bigger and bigger so in 1573 a “Sinodic Constitution” had to be established to determine the order of the suite and the type of “shows” that could go with the “procesión”.
According to the documents, since 1632 there was also the “Paseo de la Ciudad” (“Walk of the City”) which consisted in a party parade with demons, giants, big-heads and the mythical Tarasca, a woman on a dragon.
Laura V.