Spanish language and customs

Easter is coming up and I was just thinking the other day about one time years ago when I was asked to translate the Semana Santa programme of processions in Malaga into English. Anybody who has ever translated Spanish into English knows that English words tend to be shorter, and Spanish writers are often not concise, so you end up with a considerably shorter text and have to explain that you haven’t actually cut chunks out, it’s just the way it is.

While I was thinking about this, I went into a bar for a quick “bocatín” (very good value, just over one euro for a ham and Brie sandwich made with a warm crunchy baguette). I was the only customer and when I had been served, the waiter picked up a Semana Santa programme very like the ones I used to have to translate, and flicked through it, grinning to himself. Of course I had to fall into conversation with him! It turned out he was amused by the long, long titles of the brotherhoods which organise the processions. “Look at this one!” he said, and read out “Martes Santo: Venerable y Antigua Archicofradía Sacramental de la Santa Caridad de Nuestro Señor Jesucristo y Cofradía de Nazarenos del Santísimo Cristo de La Agonía, María Santísima de Las Penas y Santo Domingo de La Calzada”. Yes I remember that one, I translated it as “Tuesday: ‘Penas’” (with the inverted commas to show that ‘Penas’ is an  untranslatable word). Or “Viernes Santo: Muy Antigua y Venerable Hermandad y Cofradía de Nazarenos del Santísimo Cristo Yacente de la Paz y la Unidad, en el Misterio de su Sagrada Mortaja, Nuestra Señora de Fe y Consuelo, Santa María del Monte Calvario y San Francisco de Paula”. Yes – “Good Friday,  Mount Calvary”. That’s just a medium sized one, said my new friend. What about “Pontificia, Real, Primitiva e Ilustre Archicofradía Sacramental de la Santa Veracruz y Sangre, Nuestro Padre Jesús de Azotes y Columna, Santísimo Cristo de la Exaltación, Santísimo Cristo de Ánimas de Ciegos, Nuestra Señora de Lagrimas y Favores, Nuestra Señora del Mayor Dolor Reina de los Ángeles y San Juan Evangelista”, with a procession on Palm Sunday? They’re one of the “Fusionadas”. A sort of merging of various groups, with processions on other days as well.

If you go into the Rincón de la Victoria shopping centre in La Cala and fancy a sandwich in Bocatín, say ‘Hi’ to the Argentinean waiter from me. You can get a Semana Santa programme at the same time, and the sandwiches come with a pile of crisps. Great value all round.

Filed under: Spanish language by Liz Parry