Ecclesiastical festivals form an essential part of the life of Madrid. The Forty Hours is celebrated at thirty churches of the city. During Holy Week there are impressive services and solemn processions in the streets. Every one walks garbed in black; diversions of every sort and all except indispensable business is suspended. A solemn hush reigns over the feverish city. Traffic in the thoroughfares is forbidden on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday, and the tramcars do not run during certain hours. On Maundy Thursday the King washes the feet of twelve indigent men and women in the palace, and the public attend the ceremony. Good Friday is a day of grace, when the King, at his discretion, exercises clemency towards criminals accused of capital charges.
A _romeria_ or pilgrimage is celebrated in the morning of Good Friday, when crowds visit the Cara de Dios, and afterwards promenade the streets. Imposing processions also take place on Good Friday, which are sometimes attended by the King and the Court dignitaries.
The Corpus Christi festivals are very important. A splendid procession is formed by the chief clergy, members of the court, and military officers. During these celebrations, fairs are held in the outskirts of the city. There is a curious ceremony in memory of St John during June. On the evening of June 23, the populace assemble in the Plaza de Madrid, and at the stroke of midnight the devout dip their hands in the fountain of Cybele, and scatter the water over the bystanders who are unable to reach the basin.
Advent is commemorated by the proclamation of an ecclesiastical decree in the streets of the city. This Bull refers to the Crusades, and is read by a dignitary of the Church, who is attended by guards and trumpeters. Upon Christmas Eve there is midnight Mass at many of the churches, followed by rejoicings in the streets, when the people sing, and beat drums, and make lively din with various instruments.
Madrid is an important military command, and members of the service are amongst the most fashionable sets in the city, as in other parts of Europe. In Spain, however, the uniform does not of itself confer social distinction, and officers continue to frequent the circles from which they were drawn. Military arrogance is not a characteristic of the Spaniard. Uniforms add to the brightness of the crowds in Madrid, and there is often the sound of regimental bands in the streets. At Caravanchel, eleven kilometres from the city, is a large camp and exercise-ground for the troops, where important reviews are held in the summer, attended by the King and his suite.