REPORTING – Created in the 1920s, the Spanish Legion was involved in all the battles. Those, particularly painful, of the fratricidal civil war of 1936, as well as those, more recent, in the service of peace or the fight against international terrorism in Afghanistan or the Sahel. In Málaga, during Holy Week, the brigade parades through the streets of the Andalusian city, where the inhabitants worship it.
At first it seemed like a rumor. A distant melody that resonates from the port of Málaga before spreading district by district throughout the city. Then the music picks up momentum and, to the applause of thousands of spectators gathered near the church of Santo Domingo, the brass, cymbals and drums of the Spanish Legion sweep into the Plaza Fray Alonso de Santo Tomás. Since the start of Holy Week, the Andalusian city has vibrated to the sound of fanfares and processions from dozens of brotherhoods and religious fraternities which travel through it night and day. But today is Maundy Thursday and the street belongs to the legionnaires.
In the white-hot stands, the public is standing. We carry the youngest at arm’s length so that they can see the soldiers arriving. Here, much more than elsewhere in Spain, the Legion arouses respect and admiration. On the souvenir stands, t-shirts and objects bearing the image of its four tercios…
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