The older Californian brother recognizes that it was “a mistake” to remove Burrica

As he explained to the hundred brothers who attended the traditional event of the incarnate brotherhood, the weather forecast for Sunday was “a slight spark and mud”, in no case “the torrent of clean water that fell in a moment.” For this reason, the council that gathered at 4:30 p.m. decided to take the procession to the streets. However, “we lightened up and in less than two hours and ten minutes the entire delegation was already outside. In fact, when it started to rain, the head of the procession, that is, three thirds, were already inside the parish of Santa María,” he explained. Even so, he regretted the children's “major displeasure” and their disappointment at ending the parade and its numerous hours of preparation in such an abrupt way.

Ayala assumed that it was “a mistake” to let the procession leave, although neither the minors, whom he praised for their behavior, nor the heritage, which most of them had time to cover, suffered damage. «It has been one of the hardest decisions of my life. There was a moment of confusion because the parents were waiting for their children in San Miguel, and they also left for the brotherhood. To avoid future incidents, the older brother proposed the creation of a specific regulation for Palm Sunday.

Pedro Ayala thanked his three counterparts for their support and help, as well as the mayor, Noelia Arroyo, who accompanied him during the “complicated night” of Palm Sunday. He also praised the quick response of the church and warehouse teams.

Three new additions

The older brother highlighted the news of this Holy Week to a hundred Californians. The brotherhood has restored the ancient cloak of San Juan, made by Consuelo Escámez in 1950, and a shroud of the Virgin of the Rosary, from four years later. Both are displayed in the Pronovias window, on Santa Florentina Street.

Ayala highlighted as a “star” of the Californios, and an authentic “work of art” the sculptural image of El lavatorio de los pies, by the Córdoba image maker and restorer Francisco Romero Zafra, together with Pablo Porras Castro and Juan Jiménez González, which will premiere on Wednesday Saint, in the procession of the Arrest, the female third of the Group of Santiago Apóstol.

Golden Spike

Regarding future projects, he indicated that “at the end of October or beginning of November” the first floor and the living room of the building of the defunct Espiga Dorada bakery, on Aire Street, which the brotherhood acquired as its headquarters, will be remodeled.

The plan is to create a multipurpose room with an exhibition of the brotherhood's heritage in the room below, which will become a museum. For the first floor, they plan a gold embroidery workshop taught by Antoñita Sánchez and another restoration workshop. The Californians already have a municipal subsidy of 5,000 euros that they will allocate to the construction permit, among other aid that they will access so that the works cost them “as little as possible.”

The main steward of the California Brotherhood, José Blas Martínez, closed the Cabildo de los Dátiles highlighting the value of the quarry. «Our children are an example, they are Californians through and through. “They are better than us,” he said. In his brief speech he also launched some taunts against the makos. «Their voices don't come out of their bodies, that's why they have to put on the public address system, like on Friday of Sorrows. “We will be there when they need us, as they were on Palm Sunday.”