The use of drums might well stem from their use during the Reconquistato give warning of the arrival of the Arab army. The nine towns that celebrate this festival are all from the arid district of Lower Aragon: Andorra, Alcorisa, Alcañiz, Albalate del Arzobispo, Calanda, Híjar, La Puebla de Híjar, Samper de Calanda and Urrea de Gaén.

This is probably the keenest, noisiest and most solemn celebration of Semana Santa in the whole of Spain. During Holy Thursday and Good Friday, thousands of devotees and brotherhoods play drumrolls on their small and large drums to announce the death of Christ and try to “break the hour”. Hundreds of drums, big and small, accompany several processions such as the Sellado del Sepulcro (Sealing of the Tomb) in Alcañiz.

In Calanda, the breaking of the hour takes place at midday of Good Friday, when the deafening drumbeats merge with the saetas. The film director Luis Buñuel, in his memoirs called Mi último suspiro(My Last Sigh) claims that this tradition dates from the end of the eighteenth century. Near this town there is a gigantic drum and drummer to commemorate this celebration.