Easter in Seville: the traditions of Holy Week

Seville is one of the most beautiful cities in Spain and certainly also of Europe. A city where you can breathe the most authentic, most authentic Spain. Sounds, music, colors and costumes that transport you in a whirlwind of Mediterranean, Iberian, true sensations.
From the wide illuminated streets surrounded by greenery to the small taverns where you can stop for a glass of wine, from the huge squares to the sidewalks that host the typical Flamenco en la calle. Sevilla in the evening is the most beautiful city in the world. At any time of the year. But, like every city, there are times when you wear the party dress, a bit like a woman, always beautiful, but capable of being even more so.

Index

1. Holy Week in Seville
2. The Confraternities: Formation, Worship and Charity
3. The Processions
4. Advice for tourists
5. Plan your Easter in Seville: flights, hotels and tours
6. User questions and comments

Holy Week in Seville

The "Semana Santa" is one of the most important events for the Sevillian community, dating back to the th century. A folklore show that it begins with Palm Sunday and ends on Easter Sunday, with a succession of parades and processions which make this event one of the most important in the world.
To participate are 57 brotherhoods, and many inhabitants of the city who follow the processions who with pointed hats, the "capirote", who carrying candles, who crosses.

The Confraternities: Formation, Worship and Charity

That of Holy Week in Seville it is not the 7 day fruit, but there is so much more. It is the commitment of the whole year on the part of brotherhoods that work according to their 3 cardinal principles: Training, Worship and Charity.
In fact, throughout the year they are spent in works of charity, assistance to the needy, both in the city and in the province. An organization that even has a council, the "General Council of Brotherhoods and Confraternities", with the members elected every 4 years by the eldest, and who have the task, in agreement with the authorities, to organize Holy Week.

The Processions

These include an official route, called "Recorrido y Carrera oficial", passing through the stations of penance provided, carrying "los pasos", or the vare, statues or groups of sacred images representing Jesus Nazarene, the Madonna or a mystery.
Tradition provides that the brotherhoods, before entering the official circuit, ask the representative of the council for the "access consent" or "Pedir la venia".
Each brotherhood has its own "order of procession": in the days of the semana santa, they alternate according to ancient traditions. The most important day is "La Madrugada", that is the night between Thursday and Good Friday, with the procession opened by the oldest of the brotherhoods, the "Hermandad del Silencio". On this night, the participants in the procession reach one million, all in painful way towards the Sevilla Cathedral.

Advice for tourists

It is a period of great crowds, very heartfelt, and regardless of whether they are Christians, believers or not, they are days in which you can breathe an extraordinary, pure, Sevillan area to the bone. Music, colors, exceptional fragrances of orange blossom that inebriate the air. Of course, a bit like in all super busy periods, there are some little tricks to follow!

1. Getting around on foot: if you have a car, it is preferable to leave it at the hotel because the experience is to be enjoyed on foot. And because, even if you wanted to, it would be impossible otherwise.
2. Suitable clothing: in line with point 1, comfortable clothing and above all comfortable shoes: there will be a lot of walking!
3. Find out about the program: in a newsstand or in any of the tourist information centers, ask for a program of the processions, it will be easier for you to follow and understand them.
4. Watch out for children: if you are with small children, do not let them go away because the crowd is such that it takes less than a moment to get lost.
5. Book first: it is an ultra crowded and super tourist period, book your accommodation in time, both for a matter of prices and for a fact of availability of places.
6. Taste as much as possible: do not spare yourself in tasting the typical dishes of the party. Cod with chickpeas, cod with tomato, tortillas de camarones (shrimp omelettes), as well as evergreen serrano jamon, paella, gazpacho and, of course, tapas!

Plan your Easter in Seville: flights, hotels and tours

• starting from € 39,98 -
• Hotel and b & b from € 45,00 per room -
• Alcázar, Cathedral and Giralda of Seville: Seville guided tour: evening tour and flamenco in a local tablao