Eastern traditions in Gijon, Asturias, Spain

Holly week starts onPalm Sunday and it last till next sunday ,called Easter Sunday.
On Palm Sunday, people go to churches where it is read a narrative about the holly week story.
Then in churches the priest, blesses bunches and palms that people took there and at the end they march on procession through nearest streets around the church and people sing religious songs. Finally children take blessed bunches and palms to their godfather and godmothers´ home .
In former times in small villages, people delivered parts of these blessed bunches, in different parts of the house to protect it agains witches and bad spirits sayings spellings like the following, written in our local language asturian:
"for a ratos
for a sapos
for a toa bendito
qu´aqui to l´agua bendito
y el ramu de la Pasión".

Since Holly Monday , processions start in Spain. In every town or village, from North to South, there are groups of people , devotees of a Virgin or Jesus, called "Cofradias" that take their sculptures out ,on procession through streets .
These cofradias wear special clothing with different colours for each Cofradia.
The sculptures, called "Pasos" are very ancient , most of them from the Baroque period and they are priceless.
There are processions every day during the Holly Week, and in Andalucia not only days but nights.
Holly Week is specially famous in some parts of Spain: Andalucia, Castilla…etc because of the richness of "Pasos" and the numbers of devotees the "Cofradia" have.
Here in Asturias, there are very famous processions in Avilés and Villaviciosa. In Gijón are very famous too the Pasos of Jesus Nazareno, santa Vera Cruz, Santa Misericordia..etc.
Next sunday, Easter sunday godmothers and godfathers give to their godchildren a special cake or a chocolate bunny or egg called here in Asturias "Bollu" and "Mona" in Cataluna..
Some days after, people celebrate a great festival called "The Painted Eggs" in Pola de Siero, a small town in the centre of Asturias,on first tuesday after Easter Sunday.
Its origins are not very exact. Some people think it is related with religion , others think it has something to do with the concept of the renwal of life each sprig
This custom to paint eggs exits nowdays not only in many European countries but in another parts of Spain :Andalucia, Cataluna.
Here in Asturias, this tradition is transmited from parents to children and from generation to generation.
It is one of the parties with more importance in Asturias it consist s in showing, buying and giving painting eggs,finishing with a tipical party, called "verbena".
Nowdays the technique of painting eggs is the result of a big revolution: you paint it with a small feather, with water colours and oil paints, depending on the cuality obtained by the art of its author. The custom of painting eggs in our region seems related with the arrival of the nineteenth century.
The custom of painting eggs is only conserved in Siero and Langreo, where
The eggs until the end of the XIX century, were painted with soot from the old Asturian cookers where people only burnt oak wood or coal.