Today, June 16, is the feast of Corpus Christi, which celebrates the body and blood of Christ that is present in the sacrament of the Eucharist. In Seville, it is celebrated with solemn processions and with floats that manage to be both devout and opulent at the same time.  

We were part of the festivities this morning, tipped off to them by Mercedes, Monday’s walking tour guide, and helped along by a map supplied by the hotel. The procession lasted for hours—men, women and children carrying banners, staffs and lighted candles. Up to 50 men bear the weight of the floats on their shoulders, shuffling along in unison.

I felt I was seeing the real Seville, the one the people here experience, not the one manufactured for tourists. The piety was impressive, perhaps only to be outdone by the bells of the Giralda, which went into overdrive to mark the occasion. “He was a rationalist,” Chekhov wrote, “but he had to confess that he liked the ringing of church bells.” It was hard not to feel likewise today.