What link can possibly exist between physiotherapy and popular devotion? In the South of Spain, emergency physiotherapy units have to be placed on standby during the popular Easter processions to provide treatment for the injuries of members of the Confraternities, due to the physical strain of carrying the heavy statues and representations of the scenes from the life of Jesus and Mary during Holy Week. This Easter, physiotherapists have had to provide treatment to over 1800 people in Andalucía alone. “The so-called “costaleros”, the men and women who support on their shoulders the enormous weight of the sacred images explains the osteopath Montserrat Altamir -, must train beforehand in order to ensure they are in perfect physical form”. The injuries are of various kind, cramps, contractions, torn ligaments, backache, cervical strain… Not everyone can be “costaleros”, warns Altamir: “people with diabetes or hypertension must avoid it, given that an attack in the middle of a procession could prove fatal”.
