Chains and pains: How one Mexican town celebrates Holy Week

By MEGAN JANETSKY
Associated Press

ATLIXCO, Mexico (AP) — Barefoot, half naked and blindfolded, throngs of middle aged men groan as they drag their bodies along the blazing cobblestone streets of the Mexican town of Atlixco. Pieces of cactus sit lodged on their arms and legs, and 70-pound chains hang around their necks and clatter around their ankles as crowds watch them pass. For these men, it’s not a form of torture, but rather a cherished Mexican tradition that has played out for more than a hundred years.