Easter Week in Seville

I get that some want to be there during the festivities. It is definitely a nice experience to happen upon a procession, as I have during non-Easter time. But I would not intentionally go during the festivities because of the increased crowds and the higher costs--you'll need to book accommodations early, possibly restaurants depending on your preferences.

We spent Easter 2023 in Valladolid in Spain and it was amazing. The main procession was incredible but the majority of spectators seemed to be locals. We had an apartment overlooking Plaza Mayor so we could just sit on our balcony and enjoy it all. The town itself didn't seem overly crowded.

I've been to both Valladolid and Seville during Easter Week, and the Semana Santa processions are a truly unique experience. I would vote for definitely going. You will have a wonderful time, and the crowds (imo) are manageable (and I don't normally like crowds).

The increased cost of things during Easter week doesn't bother me, and the crowds in themselves don't bother me. I'm wondering if the crowds bother the locals. I guess what I'm really aiming at is this: I see all the protests about over-tourism, and how hordes of tourists are ruining life for the locals in a lot of places. And it makes me wonder, if I want to be a good tourist, and not cause undue disturbance to the locals, should I avoid this religious event that is so important to the local community? I'm not a religious person. I would not be there for anything but to watch and take pictures. At what point do we tourists become so numerous that we crowd out the locals who are trying to have their annual traditional Easter week, without hordes of tourists crowding the sidewalks to the point that the locals can't even see the processions and the floats?

So, I want to go to Seville in either March or April, and Easter week has all those wonderful processions, but I don't want to contribute to ruining it for the locals. We need to think about how to be good tourists, right?

I'm undecided.

Semana Santa ends on March 31 and the Sevilla Feria begins on April 14 (another very crowded week in the city). If you want to avoid crowds go in mid-March, or early April.

One year I went to Semana Santa, the first few days in Malaga, then the last days in Sevilla. In Malaga the processions were treated with appropriate solemnity it looked to me that participants and a good many of the onlookers found the processions very meaningful. I found them to be very moving. There were crowds, to be sure, and many tourists, both Spanish and foreign. In Sevilla the atmosphere was much more festive and sometimes rowdy. It seemed to me that was much more from the Spanish tourists and locals than from foreign tourists (judging by language and seeming familiarity with the rituals). There was plenty of time to do general sightseeing in both cities in the mornings and afternoons. I left Sevilla late Saturday afternoon and spent Easter Sunday in Cordoba which was very quiet and almost devoid of tourists. Many tourist sights were open that day.

If you plan to arrive in Sevilla during the week, get very good directions from your hotel. I arrived in Sevilla by train in the early afternoon. The streets around my hotel were closed off for a procession. The taxi driver ended up dropping me some distance from my hotel. I had been to Sevilla twice before, so I knew where I was and managed to get to the hotel before the procession began. If it had already arrived, I probably would have had to sit a couple of hours at a cafe until it had passed. A few of the streets are closed off to vehicles for the entire week, but most are closed off and on during the week for the various processions. They are all scheduled in advance as are the routes, so your hotel should be able to tell you a week or two in advance of any possible closures affecting them.

Chani, a quick Google search tells me Semana Santa in 2025 is April 13 to April 19 and the Feria of Seville is May 5 to May 11.

I guess this is more of a philosophical conundrum. The Spaniards who frequent here are likely interested in travel themselves and are probably not going to tell you to not come. I don't think anyone who is local in the crowds is likely to even notice you.

On my four visits to Spain, I never felt anything but welcome, but as to whether to go to Sevilla, or anywhere experiencing "overtourism" in Spain, well I admit I am finally having pause. It was not the water gun incident but a radio story I heard yesterday that finally made me feel like I will have pause about planning a trip to Spain, to Catalonia anyway.
https://theworld.org/segments/2024/07/18/bicycle-backlash-in-girona-spain

I want to make it clear I understand the frustration people feel about crowds and housing prices, but when the solution is to target individuals instead of the government, I just find that so dispiriting. I do realize I have been privileged to travel as much as I have, and it just feels as if there is this shift happening where we again make the mistake of placing responsibility for the world's problems on individuals instead of the corporations and governments that actually have all of the power. Like we did with recycling--I spent decades making an individual effort that was basically meaningless. Does it matter that my family did not procreate and has only one car? Does my one international flight a year matter? Was it a mistake to fly to Spain four times and learn about its culture and history because I -gasp- stayed in an airbnb? These are the things that are swirling in my head about this issue.
I will continue to choose smaller villages and less popular cities because that is how I enjoy travel anyway, but there is sort of a pall over everything right now.

Marty, you are correct about the dates. Semana Santa starts the week before Easter on Palm Sunday and through Easter Sunday.

We need to think about how to be good tourists, right?

Yes, of course, but attending an extremely historic and visually stunning religious celebration does not constitute being a bad tourist. A "bad" tourist might attempt to take multiple selfies during the processions, or push through crowds to get to a better spot, but just attending and enjoying the incredible experience of Semana Santa is not (in my opinion) a problem. This is how we learn about other cultures and the many celebratory religious experiences that are around the world.

We need to think about how to be good tourists, right?

Unfortunately, the people who need to be thinking about how to be good tourists, don't.

Marty - is it 2024 already?

Duh.