One of the most important Holy Week traditions are held in Malaga Holy Wednesdaywhen Brotherhood of Jesus “The Rich”has the privilege of freeing the prisoner. This was the first blessing granted to the brothers in this sense and through A The monarchy of Charles IIIin 1759. Once the person receiving the pardon is chosen, which takes place at an event in the Plaza del Obispo, he joins the procession, wearing a tunic and maintaining his anonymity with the caperato. This tradition dates back to the 18th century, from the royal pragmatism of Charles III that was dictated after the plague epidemic of 1756 seriously affected the population and caused the suspension of Holy Week processions in 1759.
Rich JesusAnd, therefore, he has privilege Release a prisoneruntil he was convicted of the crime of blood. The origin story of this franchise begins in prison, where the plague epidemic has not affected as much as it had in the city. The prisoners, who knew what was happening outside the prison walls, asked the prison warden to be the one in charge of taking a photo The richwho declared themselves devotees. When they received rejection from the authorities, they decided to rebel and finally escaped to carry Christ through the streets on their shoulders, which was the perfect solution. The longest parade in the city.
Once the procession ended, the prisoners returned to their cells, except for one who returned the next day carrying a head San Bautista Degolladothe remains of which he placed next to the bed of a fellow prisoner who was ill, and Which healed after a few days From this fact.
A miracle that granted a franchise to the Rikuo brothers
According to legend, this fact is due to the sudden disappearance of the epidemic, which was interpreted as A miracle that impressed King Charles III himself. Influenced by this action of the prisoners, King A Royal privilegefor which every year, during the El Rico parade, he will be awarded a medal Freedom of the prisoner during Holy Week. This privilege was ratified by Juan Carlos I shortly after he was declared king.
This privilege, which prompts the government to focus its few pardons on religious occasions, is increasingly being criticized at the social level for its arbitrariness and obscurantism. The two most famous pardons from El Rico were Two blood crimes. One of them was that of an old woman who had it She poisoned her husband to death. She was very old, one of the oldest prisoners in the country, and she always maintained that she was not aware that she had been poisoned, so they considered her worthy of being released from her pension.
Another case was of a man He killed his wife’s loverIn this case, he was released because during a prison riot he managed to prevent the death of the prison director and thwart the riot. However, it should be noted that although El Rico always has the right to receive a pardon to parade during Holy Week, Brotherhood does not decide which prisoner should be free.
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