WHEN IN SPAIN, CELEBRATE THE HOLY WEEK (11-17 APRIL 2022)!

A Good Friday procession of the Hermandad Nuestro Padre Jesus Nazaret in southern Jerez

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by GUIDEPOST

This week is Holy Week (Semana Santa), the week of the Passion of Christ in Catholic Spain. For the first time in two years, there are very few restrictions on the Easter celebrations. Natives and visitors can join the famous religious processions without masks although it still is advisable to wear them because these processions are packed with devotees and keeping social distance is next to impossible. Also, attendance at the liturgies requires protective face coverings when held inside churches.

People are enthused about the Holy Week now that restrictions are no longer as prohibitive as they were during the pandemic. (It’s over now, isn’t it? Is it?)

The processions especially in Avila, Seville, Granada and Malaga are a must-attend, with Seville’s arguably the most opulent.

Check out the websites on processions. But before that, you might want to get prepped up and see first GUIDEPOST’s “Your Basic Course in the Spanish Semana Santa”.

As for torrijas, the Holy Week delicacy you can’t not feast on, see GUIDEPOST’s  “Torrijas. . .” by Salgoud Rellim.

If for some reason you can’t join the processions and/or other Holy Week events, the TV channel TeleMadrid’s coverage of the Semana Santa solemn festivities in Madrid is the next best thing to being there physically. Even on TV, the Catholic fervor is palpable!

UPDATE, 12 April 2022
Scattered showers sent many religious floats taking shelter back inside churches this Holy Tuesday, the processions aborted. Weather will improve from Maundy Thursday in most parts of Spain although the north and the Balearics will continue to have unstable weather conditions. Great weather awaits vacationers after Easter Sunday.

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Incidentally, the wearing of face masks will no longer be obligatory even indoors immediately following the Holy Week, 19 April 2022, except on public transport and health centers. People are however enjoined to remain prudent and use common sense once wearing masks is at their discretion.

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Images
Featured image/El Pantera, CC BY-SA4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Face mask/Visuals from Pixabay. Text supplied.