Holy Week in Sevilla

Hands down one of the best things I have ever done, and I'm old so I have done a lot of stuff. Book your hotel or Airbnb ASAP it will be much more expensive than normal for HW. There are websites with info on parade routes etc. to verifly what is what due to Covid. Don't expect your taxi driver to get you all the way to your hotel, streets can be closed due to a parade. Use a map application on your phone for a walking route, think about how much luggage you can tote. I took very high platform shoes to be tall enough to see over the tops of other peoples heads. J

Also, understand that you will not cover traditional sights as efficiently as usual if you visit during Holy Week (Semana Santa). First, some hours of operation may be reduced that week, so you won't always be able to get to all your targets in one neighborhood on the same day. Viewing the interiors of churches can be especially challenging. Second, processions can cause blocking of streets, increasing the distance you have to walk from one sight to the next. I did everything on foot, but I assume both buses and taxis struggle at times. Third, you'll naturally want to spend some time watching the processions, and that will cut into the time you have available for other sightseeing. Add at least one more day in Seville than you think you'll need.

This year Holy Week is from 10 to 17, being Thursday 14, Friday 15 and Sunday 17 the most important days and when most processions take place. It´s an event that´s celebrated all over Spain, with special importance in Sevilla (but also very popular in many other places). In Sevilla it´s a massive event and streets will be very crowded. Processions are solemn, but there are singing of "saetas" (people sing to the Virgin or Jesus on the floats from their windows or balconies, and the float stops so they can listen) and music all along the itinerary of the procession. Each "Hermandad" (Brotherhood) departs from a different church, sometimes they cross their paths with other hermandades, and there´s a lot of liturgy that needs previous understanding by visitors. Not that we are a very religious country any more, to tell the truth, but we love our traditions (I´m from Bilbao and we also have our processions during the whole week...even as an atheist, I just love to watch them).

Is there a schedule posted for the processions? Mikel wrote that most are on 14 and 15 April. Will we be able to see any earlier in the week? (Our tour ends the 10th and I’m not sure about adding 4 or 5 days).

I never made it to Sevilla to see the processions, but there are processions in other towns too. Decades ago I went to ones in Jerez de la Frontera. They might not be as large, but just as impressive with smaller crowds. Back then I drove there from my apartment but I have to believe that lodging in a place other than Sevilla would be less expensive.

I definitely paid a high hotel rate in Seville during Holy Week--I'd guess about double the usual. Another issue was that the reservation was only cancellable up to 14 days before arrival. Later than that I'd have received no refund at all. I have had no other European reservation that needed to be canceled more than three days in advance. It made me nervous, but it turned out fine; one year later would have been a very different story.

It´ll be a very busy week as processions are the most popular in Spain. I found this program, in Spanish but Google Translator may help, https://semanasantasevilla.es/itinerario-oficial/.

Assuming there are processions this year . . . .

I was in Malaga for the first few days of Semana Santa, then moved on to Sevilla through Saturday. Late in the afternoon I left for Cordoba where I spent Easter Sunday. I found the processions in Malaga to be very moving (and I'm not Christian) and the atmosphere was more reverent than festive. Sevilla was the opposite and the crowds were sometimes almost overwhelming. Many of the churches and brotherhoods are open for at least a few hours a day so you can see the floats up close - they are spectacular. Processions include bands so it's easy to find them by following the sound of the music. There's usually at least one parading at any given time from midday until the wee hours of the night.

Easter Sunday in Cordoba was much like any other day.