New Cathedral, Salamanca, Spain
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In Elx, Spain, the location of the largest palm grove in Europe, there is a tradition of tying and covering palm leaves to whiten them away from sunlight and then drying and braiding them in elaborate shapes. The first documented evidence concerning Diumenge de Rams, Palm Sunday, dates from 1371, when the Consell de la Vila, or Town Council, took part in the celebrations, distributing alms.
Trade in blanched palm leaves was documented in an entry in the Town Hall records from 1492 and it has continued to the present day. For centuries blanched palm leaves from Elche have been exported to the entire Catholic world.
A Spanish rhyming proverb states: Domingo de Ramos, quien no estrena algo, se le caen las manos ("On Palm Sunday, the hands drop off of those who fail to use something new"). Palm Sunday was traditionally a day to wear new clothes or shoes.
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