Thousands of people who gathered this Palm Sunday enjoying the processions of La Pollinica and the Virgen del Rocío were startled when a candle from the candelaria that accompanies the Virgin fell and lit the cloak of the image when she was barely wearing a candle. hour through the streets of the municipality of Malaga. Two brothers were injured trying to put out the fire.
Safely enjoying the most expensive Holy Week in history and with tourist reservations at pre-pandemic levels means following a series of legal advice to solve scares such as the one that occurred in Vélez-Málaga.
The streets are filled with processions, brotherhoods, religious and Nazarene steps, but also with risks that must be avoided in order not to suffer a legal ordeal.
What are the rules that regulate Holy Week?
Although there is no law that regulates it as a religious festival, Royal Decree 384/2017 declares Holy Week as a Representative Manifestation of Intangible Cultural Heritage.
The Code of Canon Law of Pope John Paul II recognizes brotherhoods and confraternities as legal persons and subjects of canon law. The ecclesiastical authority is the competent entity to endow them with personality.
The brotherhoods obtain their legal recognition in the civil sphere once they are registered in the Registry of Religious Entities of the Ministry of Justice. After this registration, they are governed internally by their rules and statutes that regulate their rights and obligations.
How to avoid problems in the processions?
The Council of Brotherhoods and Brotherhoods of Cádiz has been emphatic in ending the tradition of throwing petals at the images of Holy Week. The prohibition follows the recommendations of the city council and insurance companies to avoid accidents and falls due to slipping.
The brotherhoods must have a liability insurance who is responsible for the damage caused. They also usually cover possible accidents that the brothers could suffer. Care must be taken with the negligence of those who participate in the procession because if the accident is caused by a lack of diligence on the part of the brother himself, the brotherhood will not assume any responsibility.
Legálitas recalls that the internal regulations of brotherhoods and brotherhoods regulate the duties of their members, among which are “the obligation to attend a procession with a certain outfit and, above all, to observe exemplary moral conduct.” Its compliance prevents expulsion from the brotherhood, a procedure regulated in its internal regulations.
When a spectator is run over by a religious passage and there is negligence by the brothers, the brotherhood assumes responsibility for the damage to a third party. But if the damage is caused by tourist’s fault, the brotherhood is not responsible. The same occurs when there is an incident due to burns from a candle, as occurred in Vélez-Málaga.
How to enjoy balconies without problems?
The rental of balconies to watch the processions is one of the most contentious issues of Holy Week. To avoid unpleasant situations, from Legálitas they point out that in the first place “it is essential to record whether the balcony or the entire house is rented exclusively.”
If we rent the balcony with the rest of the house, we must check with the town hall if it is necessary to have tourist license and that the house complies with the corresponding safety regulations.
If we rent the terrace by the hour, lawyers recommend avoiding verbal agreements and formalizing the contract in writing. This document will allow us to prove the content of the agreement in the event of a conflict between the parties.
The contract agrees to include the dates, the price to pay, the commitment to diligent use, respect for facilities and furniture, what are the rules of coexistence of the community of neighbors, the possibility of using other parts of the house as a bathroom , kitchen…
From Legálitas they propose to include a clause that provides possible incidents such as what will happen if the procession that you want to see finally cannot leave due to the rain or is partially celebrated or if part of the signal delivered is going to be returned.
Owners must be respectful of their obligations to the Treasury and declare the rent of the balcony in the income statement as a return on real estate capital. In addition, as the balcony is a part of a house for use other than housing, the lease is subject to VAT, especially when the purpose of its use is to see an Easter procession.
What are the most common conflicts with chairs?
The custom of taking chairs out into the street to watch the processions has a different legal treatment according to the regulation of the town hall through the Municipal ordinances. In Barcelona and Madrid, a fine for occupying the road is up to 750 and 500 euros, respectively.
In Seville and Zamora, the restrictions of the municipal ordinance do not apply during Holy Week and the brotherhoods are allowed to occupy the public thoroughfare with chairs for processional parades as long as the street occupation fee is paid.
The prices of the seats and boxes range between 95 and 1,068 euros in the Seville capital. Being a venue for more than 30,000 subscribers, income from this concept reaches three million euros per year, being one of the main ways of financing the more than 120 brotherhoods in Seville.
In Seville and in the official races organized by the General Council of Brotherhoods and Brotherhoods it is possible to inherit a chair or a box or sell the right to use it.
What taxes must be paid for boxes and chairs?
This Holy Week those who pay for a chair or box to see the official processions of Malaga will pay VAT, but in Seville they will be exempt. And it is that the matter on the indirect taxation of this income has caused a legal dispute with pending fringes.
The Tax Agency changed its criteria in 2020 and required the brotherhoods to pay 21% VAT for the rental of seats when the procession is open to the general public during the processions.
The tax difference is explained because in Malaga you get “the opportunity to see the procession sitting from a privileged position” and VAT is paid. On the contrary, In Seville this tax is not paid because it is an access service to an event and the tax exemption provided for brotherhoods that organize “exhibitions and similar demonstrations” carried out by “public law entities or by private cultural entities or establishments of a social nature” is applied.
Can the public view be blocked?
The installation by the brotherhoods of parapets and walls generates conflicts with the rest of the citizens who want to enjoy the processions.
Regarding the installation of these elements that impede vision, Antonio Benítez Ostos, managing partner of Administrativando Abogados, assures that parapets and walls “must be previously approved in the grant plan taking into account the security parameters and other rights of third parties” that could be affected.
In Seville, the penance station prevails over the possibility of viewing it by the general public. The reason is that the official procession “is not considered a public spectacle,” recalls the lawyer.
When the walls and parapets harm the rights of third parties -different from the public view- the local police may file a complaint and restore the situation to its original state.
What do the Easter pardons consist of?
There are traditions that are maintained every year —regardless of who governs— (with the exception of the pandemic), as is the case with Holy Week and its pardons.
Every year, the penitent brotherhoods request for justice, equity or public utility the pardon for the inmates of their environment who meet the necessary requirements. This selection must be deliberated by the Council of Ministers and subsequently proposed by the Ministry of Justice to the King, who is in charge of granting the right of pardon.
The BOE of March 29 includes four pardons at the request of the Holy Week brotherhoods to annul those convicted of their pending sentence, so they can get out of jail and parade in processions.
The highest sentence pardoned is that of a convicted person in Malaga for drug trafficking who was serving three years in prison. In Granada, the pardon is for a person sentenced to one year and three months for a crime against intellectual property. In Salamanca, for a woman sentenced to one year in prison for robbery with force. And, in León, for a man sentenced to a year and a half in prison for robbery with force.
According to an investigation published by Civio, the Government grants one in ten pardons requested by the brotherhoods.
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