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SPANISH TRADITIONS

What you need to know about Semana Santa in Seville

Semana Santa is big all over Spain, but in Seville it’s the most important week of the year. Find out what to do, where to go, and what to see if you're in the Andalusian capital this Easter weekend.

Published: 9 April 2022 10:06 CEST
Updated: 28 March 2024 11:27 CET
What you need to know about Semana Santa in Seville
Despite the ominous appearance of the Nazarenos, Semana Santa in Sevilla is a family occasion. (Photo by CRISTINA QUICLER / AFP)

In 2024, Easter in Spain lasts from March 24th-March 31st. Holy Week (Semana Santa) is the biggest religious celebration of the year across Spain.

But for many sevillanos, Semana Santa is more important than Christmas and the entire year is a build up. Although Seville and Semana Santa are synonymous with one another, there are also elaborate Semana Santa processions across Andalusia, with Granada and Málaga holding impressive events.

Elaborate processions take place throughout Holy Week. Associations known as Hermandades or ‘brotherhoods’ (whose members take part in the processions) are a strong tradition in Spain, with many dating back to the Middle Ages. Semana Santa processions are also known as ‘penance processions’ and involve members of the brotherhood (known as nazarenos) parading from their church to the city’s cathedral.

Spending Holy Week in the Andalusian capital of Seville, quite possibly the best place to experience Semana Santa in Spain, is a must do experience if you’re in southern Spain.

Here is a calendar of the events you shouldn’t miss out on and other interesting information you should know about Holy Week in Seville.

Key dates and processions for Semana Santa in Seville

Palm Sunday/La Borriquita – A favourite with kids as it reenacts Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey. La Hermandad del Amor y pueblo organise the float and it is laden with candles and olive branches.

Holy Monday/Santa Marta – La Hermandad de Santa Marta take care of the transfer of Jesus to the Sepulchre, which sets off from plaza de San Andrés on Palm Sunday.

Holy Tuesday: La Hermandad de estudiantes leaves from the Rectorate of the University of Seville.

Holy Wednesday: La Hermandad de San Bernardo lead things on Holy Wednesday and it’s worth a visit.

Holy Thursday/La Madrugá – Maybe the most famous procession in Spain, Sevilla’s early morning La Madrugá procession takes place on Holy Thursday and includes several brotherhoods throughout the early hours. 

Good Friday/El Cachorro – Good Friday procession is led by the la Hermandad del Cachorro.

Holy Saturday: the weekend procession led by la Hermandad del Santo Entierro can’t be missed and has several stops along the way including the Triumph of the Holy Cross over Death, the Lying Jesus and the Passage of the Virgin.

Easter Sunday: The last procession of Seville’s Semana Santa every year, led by procession of the la Hermandad de la Resurrección, focuses on the resurrection story and is very dramatic. A must see – if you can find space!

Young girls wear the traditional black ‘mantillas’ during a children procession at Our Lady of the Rosary school in Sevilla. (Photo by CRISTINA QUICLER / AFP)

What you should know about Semana Santa in Seville:

The oldest brotherhoods

Seville has some of Spain’s oldest brotherhoods that are worth checking out, if you can get a spot along the route. La Hermandad del Silencio, founded in 1355, is believed to be the oldest, and la Hermandad de los Negros was founded in 1394,la Cofradía Vera Cruz in 1448, and la Hermandad del Santo Entierro sometime in the fifteenth century.

These brotherhoods have the most tradition, often the most nazarenos, and have some of the most popular procession floats and routes.

Food

Like any holiday in Spain, food and drink plays a big part in the traditions. Semana Santa is no different, and in Seville some nazarenos even give out food as they pass through the streets. It was originally introduced as a way not to scare children, and in Seville, sweets and chocolates are usually given out to distract from their striking hoods.

La Hermandad de los Panaderosliterally the Brotherhood of Bakers) give away bread on their route, and Semana Santa also has some seasonal delicacies worth trying, such torrijas, hornazo, and bartolillos. These are traditional treats to enjoy and typical of Semana Santa. 

Betis and Sevilla coats of arms

It just wouldn’t be Seville if there wasn’t some kind of reference to football, would it? Much like the rivalry between the various brotherhoods, Seville’s intense football rivalry – between Sevilla and Real Betis, for those who don’t know – makes an appearance in the city’s Semana Santa procession. 

The club crests are included on the floats of the brotherhood of Santa Genoveva. They aren’t together, of course, but rather kept separate.

Putting in the hours

Due to the distances travelled, and the chaos in the streets, many of the brotherhoods are in procession for hours at a time. The brotherhood El Cautivo del Polígono San Pablo travels over 10km over 14 hours (!) of painstaking, step-by-step progress through the crowded streets. The brotherhood leaves around 11:30am and gets to the main Cathedral at around 2pm.

An effigy of Christ is carried by “La O” brotherhood over the Guadalquivir river during an Easter procession in Seville. (Photo by CRISTINA QUICLER / AFP)

La Madrugá

La Madrugá (literally early morning or dawn) are a series of processions that take place during the night of Maundy Thursday and into the morning of Good Friday. It’s not unusual for the streets to be completely rammed with people – including children and pensioners – and the streets are often quite solemn in the candlelight.

Penitents of the ‘La Macarena’ brotherhood parade during ‘La Madrugá’ procession in Seville. (Photo by CRISTINA QUICLER / AFP)

La Saeta

La Saeta is a traditional religious song you will hear throughout Semana Santa processions. The a capella performance is performed in complete silence as a mark of respect, and can be a very striking experience. Top local singers are given the honour, and let loose with all their angst. Of course, as it’s Sevilla there’s a certain Flamenco influence, and it’s not uncommon to hear Flamenco songs being sung during Semana Santa, but never during the silence of La Saeta.

A man sings “La Saeta” at a “La Amargura” procession during Easter celebrations in the street of Seville. (Photo by PHILIPPE DESMAZES / AFP)

La Borriquita

One curiosity of Semana Santa in Sevilla is the changing of the Plaza del Salvador, the main hotspot on Palm Sunday. Children arrive in white and then men dressed in black leave the Plaza to signify day giving way to night.

A young acolyte of the “El Valle” brotherhood parades during an Easter procession in Seville. (Photo by CRISTINA QUICLER / AFP)

La Mortaja in Doña María Coronel

On Good Friday, during the passing of the muñidor, who traditionally is thought to proceed, or announce, that Jesus’s death is coming (or in the case of Semana Santa, that his float is coming up next), the streets are steeped in silence, darkness and the smell of incense to signify Jesus’s pain and suffering. For many brotherhoods, it closes the Good Friday events.

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SPANISH TRADITIONS

Everything you need to know about Carnival in Cádiz

Carnival season may have finished in most of Spain, with the burial of the sardine on Ash Wednesday, but in Cádiz the party is still going strong and the streets are filled with gaditano (local from Cádiz) wit. Writer Clementine Scott tells us all about the history of the city’s iconic celebrations.

Published: 15 February 2024 17:00 CET
Everything you need to know about Carnival in Cádiz

The coastal city of Cádiz hosts carnival or carnaval, like many other cities in Spain and around the world, for a week starting from the weekend before Ash Wednesday. While most Spanish carnavales ended on February 14th, the event in Cádiz, along with Santa Cruz de Tenerife’s equally famous carnaval, continues until the following weekend (the 18th).

Cadiz’s version of carnival also distinguishes itself from other Spanish iterations through its notable focus on humour and political satire, making it stand out from the flashier, larger-than-life visions of carnival presented by cities such as Rio de Janeiro in Brazil and Gran Canaria.

READ ALSO: Why does Spain bury a sardine to mark the start of Lent?

Scholars have made links between modern carnivals and lavish pre-Christian celebrations in ancient Rome such as the Saturnalia, but the origins of Cádiz’s carnival as we now understand it are found in the 16th century, when Cádiz enjoyed a prosperous trading relationship with Venice (as well as other Italian port cities like Genoa) and inherited some of the Italian city’s Mardi Gras traditions.

Some of these Italian influences are still felt today, in the form of the extravagant masks and costumes reminiscent of the Venetian masquerade.

Some of the crazy costumes at Cádiz Carnival. Photo: CRISTINA QUICLER / AFP

Indeed, expect dressing up above all else if you visit Cádiz for carnival. It’s hard to be on Spanish social media this time of year without seeing gaggles of students dressed as Minions or Ghostbusters, with the costumes tending to lean more towards humour and pop culture than glitz and glamour.

READ ALSO: The ultimate guide to Spain’s craziest carnivals

Often, though, looking back at the history of carnaval, carnival costumes (or disfraces in Spanish) had a meaning beyond entertaining group pictures for Instagram – as in carnival traditions elsewhere in the world, dressing up is an opportunity to invert the social order and potentially satirise and critique those in power.

This rebellious spirit also extends to the music. Visitors with a passing knowledge of Spanish current affairs may be able to recognise the references in songs performed by large groups of singers known as chirigoteros, who have been practising their performances throughout the year and compete in choral contests at the start of carnaval. 

One particular highlight is the yearly performances from the ‘Cadiwoman’ feminist chirigoteras, now in their eleventh year fighting machismo and patriarchy through music and comedy.

When you need a culinary rest from the music and festivities, the Cádiz carnaval is also known for the shellfish served on the street, especially tortillitas de camarones (baby shrimp fritters).

The idea of a politicised carnival in Cádiz is linked to the darkest chapters of Spanish history. It’s notable for being one of the only Spanish carnival events to continue under Franco (though using the term carnaval was forbidden, and the event was instead known as fiestas típicas gaditanas, or ‘typical festivals of Cádiz’), with chirigoteros escaping censorship through clever double entendre or by singing from memory, and holding clandestine meetings to perform their songs.

People wearing costumes take part in the Carnival parade in Cádiz. Photo: CRISTINA QUICLER / AFP
 

Fittingly, in 1978, for the first carnival after the end of the dictatorship, banners were flown with the slogan ‘Entierro de las Fiestas Típicas, ya era hora!’ (‘Bury the typical festivals, it’s about time!’).

Apart from a brief intermission during the pandemic, the Cádiz carnaval has continued uninterrupted ever since, and receives hundreds of thousands of visitors, with hotel occupancy rates in the city rising to 98 percent during the event.

Os deseamos un feliz carnaval (we wish you a happy carnival), and may all attendees enjoy the event with the witty, anti-establishment spirit of a true gaditano.

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