Holy Week in Valencia

This year 2024, the brotherhoods and sisterhoods of the different localities of Valencia are preparing a program of activities that promises to surprise and move both locals and visitors. From Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday, the streets will be filled with processions and events that will allow attendees to immerse themselves in the depths of Holy Week.

The activities will begin on Palm Sunday, the day that commemorates the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. The protagonist of the procession will walk through the streets of the city. This majestic image, carried on the shoulders of the brothers, will walk through the main squares and avenues of Valencia, while the devotees accompany it with fervor and admiration.

 

Province of Valencia

• Holy Week in Sagunto

Holy Week in Saguntina is declared a Festival of National Tourist Interest and is organized by the Mayoralía de la Cofradía de la Purísima Sangre de Nuestro Señor Jesucristo. The most important day of these festivities is Good Friday, when the Stations of the Cross are carried out from the hermitage of the Blood to Calvary, in which the Passion of Jesus is represented through the Stations of the Cross along the steep path. In the afternoon, the popular manifestation of worship that constitutes the procession of the Holy Burial is celebrated; during the procession, the “Vera Creu” is carried by the Mayorales without touching the ground, being the Clavario who is in charge of entering and leaving with it in the hermitage and in the different temples of the city. Other highlights are the concerts of sacred music, as indicated in the full program of 2024, will be in the church of El Salvador. We can also enjoy the living representation of the Passion of Christ, the auction of Pasos and Sayones, the procession of Silence, the Sermon of the Descent from the Cross and the Mass of Resurrection.

• Easter Week in Alzira

The Holy Week of Alzira, declared a Festival of National Tourist Interest in 1988, has its roots in medieval times. Currently, there are 18 brotherhoods and brotherhoods that take to the streets 25 steps, some of them true works of art. The citizens of Alzira participate in the festival and the activities that are organized throughout the year, which culminate in the Passion Week when the transfers, the Via-Crucis, the opening to the public of the canopies and the great General Procession of the Holy Burial, which manages to gather a large number of people. Previously, on Friday of Sorrows, the “Nit de les miradetes” is the meeting of the processional steps of two of the oldest brotherhoods -the Devallament de la Creu and the Dolorosa- and the act of the traditional proclamation that, as a prelude to the celebrations, announces the festivities and invites people to participate in them. The other events are listed in the calendar of events with dates and location included.

• Easter Week in Valencia

The Valencian maritime neighborhoods of El Grau, Canyamelar and Cabanyal celebrate the passion of the Maritime Holy Weekturning their streets into the scene where Jesus Christ lived two thousand years ago. The 31 brotherhoods that participate in the Semana Santa Marinera will recreate the most significant scenes: the Blessing of Palms, the Procession of the Holy Burial and the Resurrection Parade… All this under the title ‘Camí a la mar’, this year’s cover. Much more on the blog here.

• Alberic Easter Week

Easter is also lived with intensity in the town of Alberic, where the traditional Palm Sunday, ‘els Arreglos’ and the processions stand out. This peculiar tradition is one of the most original and famous of those celebrated during Holy Week in the Valencian Community. Els Arreglos’ are laborious and spectacular representations of the images located in the houses of the Cofrades Mayores of each Cofradía. In each one of them, the ‘Schola Cantorum d’Alberic’ choir sings ‘Motets’.

• Easter Week in Alboraya

Easter festivities have a long documented tradition in Alboraya. Alboraya and it can be said that at the moment they are one of the most important celebrations of Holy Week of the region of the Horta Nord. The antiquity of the Brotherhoods goes from that of the Forgiveness, created in 2005, to the oldest of all those that are known, which is that of the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre, already disappeared, founded in 1884. Of those that currently exist, the Granderos de Nuestra Señora were born in 1928, the Santa Faz in 1929 and in1930 the Santísimo Cristo de la Providencia. The first two were linked to the Musical Society and the second to the Agricultural-Industrial Society, today Ateneo.

 

Province of Castellón

• Easter Week in Vila-real

The province of Castellón also follows the customs. The procession of Villarreal, is one of the oldest and since 1546 there are documented brotherhoods such as the Purísima Sangre and the Virgen de la Soledad. It is a widespread local tradition that every year brings together in the city a good number of people who live the festival attracted by its religious character or by its more artistic and cultural side. All those who come to these celebrations, can see that the steps are true works of art carved in wood, many of them made by great masters of the town. The Holy Week of Vila-real begins with the proclamation and the provincial tamborrada, but the most awaited, original and multitudinous act takes place on Holy Thursday.

• Easter Week in l’Alcora

The most important act of the Holy Week of l’Alcora is the Rompida de la Hora, declared in 2012 IntangibleCultural Interest of the Valencian Community. This festivity takes place on Good Friday at noon, where a multitude of drummers and drummers from all over the province gather with their tunics and banners of the brotherhoods to play their instruments. It is a unique and pioneering act in the Comunitat that manages to impress the attendees.

 

Province of Alicante

• Easter Week in Orihuela

The Holy Week of Orihuela is one of the most outstanding religious-cultural expressions of Spain, declared of International Tourist Interest. There are processions on Passion Friday or Friday of Sorrows and every day of Holy Week from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday, being the General Procession of Good Friday one of the largest in Spain to collect ten brotherhoods and more than 8000 Nazarenes, 1200 musicians, two Roman centurias and a Praetorian Guard centuria. The most special and peculiar procession is the procession of Silence, where all the lights of the public lighting of the city are turned off. This event is held on Maundy Thursday and starts at the Church of Santiago el Mayor after the performance of the Cantores de la Pasión (Passion Singers). Another of its most famous processions is that of the Holy Burial of Christ, which takes place on Holy Saturday afternoon and has been proposed to be classified as World Heritage of Humanity.

• Crevillente Easter Week

The Holy Week of Crevillente was declared in 2011 of International Tourist Interest and has its origins in the seventeenth century. Art, tradition and popular feeling are the main characteristics of this celebration. At dawn, “La Morquera” is taken by the people to witness with fervor an act felt for Crevillent: the embrace between mother and son during the procession on the road to Calvary. The most important festive day is Good Friday, when rondallas and bugle bands play the popular “dianas”, sweet melodies that mark the beginning of this day. At dusk, solemnity covers the streets of Crevillent, with the procession of the Death of Christ, one of the most beautiful, where the steps of the sculptor Mariano Benlliure mark out section by section the streets of the center of the town, invaded by an absolute silence that is only broken by songs of the passion.

Holy Week will culminate with the procession of the Resurrected on Easter Sunday, where the image of the Resurrected Jesus will be carried through the streets of Valencia, in an atmosphere of joy and jubilation. Don’t miss the opportunity to experience Easter Week in Valencia in 2024. This religious festivity, no matter if you are a believer or an admirer of culture and art. Check the official website for more information about the program and schedules of the processions, we are waiting for you to live this unforgettable experience! Contact us here.