Easter pardon for Malaga inmate

The inmate who will be pardoned on Easter Wednesday in Malaga, is a 30-year-old man serving three years in Alhaurin de la Torre prison.

He will be symbolically pardoned during the procession of Nuestro Padre Jesus El Rico, but his identity will not be revealed.

He was sentenced for causing bodily harm in 2002, although he only entered prison last November, when he was married with a son and had a job.

He said the crime for which he was sentenced was a “mistake” and that entering prison wrecked his and his family’s lives.

Every Easter, during its procession through Malaga City, the image of Christ carried by El Rico brotherhood ‘pardons’ an inmate.

In 1759, when the plague hit Malaga, the prison was badly affected, but some of the inmates believed if they were allowed to carry the image of Christ through the streets, they would be saved.

Permission for this was denied, but many of them revolted and still in shackles, took the image of Christ from the nearest church and carried it to the worst affected areas.

They then returned it to the church and all of them went back to prison.

Legend has it, the plague then disappeared from the city and the King of Spain, Carlos III was informed.

He ordered that every year, when the image passed the prison, which used to be within the city, although it is now in Alhaurin de la Torre, the gates should be opened and one inmate allowed to leave.

This year, 19 inmates will be pardoned throughout Spain over Easter.