{{Short description|Float made for religious parades}} {{For|other|Paso (disambiguation)}} {{One source|date=June 2024}} {{Italics title}} [[File:Domingo de ramos astorga.jpg|thumb|250px|A large ''paso'' in Astorga, Spain, depicting the triumphal entry of Christ into Jerusalem]] A '''''paso''''' (Spanish for 'Episode of the Passion of Christ') is an elaborate float made for religious processions. They are carried by porters on staves, like a litter or sedan chair, and are usually followed or escorted by a band. Some have long skirts that cover the bearers entirely, giving the impression that the statue is floating on its own power.
The porters are called ''costaleros'', ''cargadores'' or ''portadores'' and their leader is called a ''capataz'' ('Foreman' or 'Head Man'). The ''capataz'' sets the ''chicotá'', the period of time between a ''paso'' being lifted and set down again; the ''costaleros'' cannot pick up or set down the ''paso'' except by his leave. This is signalled by the ''llamador'' ('crier'), a knocker on the front of the float. During ''Semana Santa'' ('Holy Week', the week preceding Easter) the custom is to make ''pasos'' adorned with large wooden statues of Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary, saints and biblical personalities from the Passion.
In Italy smaller carried floats are known as ''macchine a spalla''.<ref>Soundscape and the Built Environment Jian Kang, Brigitte Schulte-Fortkamp - 2018 - 1482226324. Page 230 ... the intangible cultural heritage has been updated with the inclusion of four Italian folk festivals that belong to the network of "celebration of big shoulder-borne processional structures" (Le Feste delle grandi macchine a spalla) (Nardi, 2013).</ref> In the Philippines, the term for shoulder-borne floats and palanquins is ''andas''. Carriages for larger, life-sized icons have wheels and are instead called ''carrozas''. Both types may carry small icons and are borne or pulled by at least two people; they may have lighting fixtures for nighttime or dawn processions, with some having canopies above the image or scene.
==See also== {{Commons category-inline|Pasos}}
==References== {{Reflist}}
==Bibliography== * [https://web.archive.org/web/20060504032546/http://travel2.nytimes.com/2006/03/26/travel/26essay.html Seville's Holy Week Rituals Draw In an Outsider] (New York Times: March 26, 2006)
Category:Culture of Spain Category:Catholicism in Spain Category:Catholic Church in Spain Category:Christianity in Portugal