The Volatín and Angel Easter celebrations

On the final days of Easter week, Tudela, in Navarre, holds its Volatín and Ángel celebrations, a custom that dates back to the Middle Ages.

At 10am on Holy Saturday the Volatín (a wooden/rag doll with a cigar/firework in its mouth) is publicly shaken and burned. Once set alight, the doll is shaken and shaken until it falls to the ground, destroyed. It is a simple ceremony that commemorates the suicide of Judas, the apostle who betrayed Jesus to the Romans.At 9am on Easter Sunday is the Bajada del Ángel, that brings together thousands of people in Plaza de los Fueros Square. Here, a child dressed as an angel flies through the air towards a statue of the Virgin Mary, whose head is covered by a black cloth, a sign of mourning for the death of Jesus. The angel removes the cloth, an expression of joy for the resurrection of Christ.