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Easter Week in Spain (Semana Santa)

The passion of Christ, or Easter Week known in Spain as Semana Santa is the most important celebration in the country. The festivities begin with Domingo de Ramos (Palm Sunday) and end with Lunes de Pascua (Easter Monday). It is a celebration of life itself and the whole country comes alive. Each area, city and town has its own accent on its celebrations. They are all very different but in common they all portray life, colour, culture, music and dance all with a very religious meaning.

In every town, processions make their way through the streets, carrying religious images called tronos, these are pieces of art. They are made of gold, silver and fine fabrics.They are decorated with a lot of fresh flowers. They are stunning to see as they are so beautiful. Between fifty to eighty men hold each trono on their shoulders all the way, which can be for up to five hours, always at night. Young children also play a big part in the celebrations some as young as three or four and crowds watch these parades lining the streets in the thousands.

In the region of Alamaden de la Plata near Seville. On Easter Sunday, rag and straw dolls representing famous people are placed at different points in the street of the village. These are finally torn apart and the pieces thrown in the air. In Castiblanco de los Arroyos, they place the same kind of dolls in the street but they later set them on fire.

You can see the Easter procession in Torrevieja throughout Easter week, but the main parade is Easter Friday (21st March), stating from the central church at around 7.30pm. This parade is very special as the longest of the floats (trono) is carried by 100 expats and is called “The garden of olives” (“Huerta de Olivia”). It is a very big honour for non Spanish nationals to be asked to take part in a traditional Spanish parade. See the procession live here – www.semanasantatorrvieja.com