Perpignan is a lovely little French city tucked away at the foot of the Pyrenees just a stone’s throw from France’s border with Spain. In fact this Catalan city has moved backwards and forwards between the two countries to give it a unique Franco-Spanish flavour.

We usually get to pass by Perpignan on our regular trips between the Netherlands and Spain, and this time we decided to make a pit stop on Good Friday in order to see the procession of La Sanch.

La Sanch (meaning blood, in Catalan) is a procession that takes place through the streets of Perpignan in order to commemorate the Passion of Christ…not the Mel Gibson movie, but rather the story of Jesus Christ’s arrest, trial and suffering.

The procession was established all the way back in the 15th Century by the Brotherhood of La Sanch and was originally leading up to the town’s yearly executions with robes and hoods provided to protect the identity of the prisoners who were on their way to the gallows. Seemingly redundant to protect those about to die, but really to prevent them being lynched by the mob before they met their official end.

Starting at the Saint Jacques church on the edge of the city the procession winds its way around Perpignan for the next 3 hours to finally end up back at the same church. So you can see the procession at many different spots across the city.

Rather than picking just one spot, we found it was good to follow alongside the procession to also get to see the town and then at the end you can have all the different misteris (the stations of the cross that are carried) coming and passing you at the finish.

Reward yourself with an early dinner at Bar Celone, for locally brewed spicey beer and hearty local dishes before getting ready to continue journey south and into Spain…enjoy!