Semana Santa 2016

This article offers a good overall guide (but unfortunately refers to this years dates).
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/europe/spain/11144481/Semana-Santa-details-and-guide.html
Maybe fly into Malaga, move on to Seville for the bulk of festivities, then fly out of Madrid.

My husband and I went as a last minute trip a few years ago. We didn't plan on being there during Semana Santa but that's the only chance we had. It was a great experience even though where we could get reservations dictated where we stayed. We ended up in Toledo on Good Friday for a couple of nights. There were the usual crowds but it wasn't unbearable. There were processions through town to the cathedral. It was quite interesting and beautiful. Easter Sunday we were in Arcos de la Frontera. There was a bull run that afternoon as well as a street party atmosphere throughout the day with bands in the evening. Very fun! I'm sure there might be better places to be these days but we had a great time. We hit several other towns before and after but these two days were some of our favorites.

Sevilla’s celebration is likely the most famous in the world. Whether you are religious or not there’s something to enjoy and I guarantee you won't see anything like it anywhere else. There are more than 55 church brotherhoods, some dating as far back as the 13th century, which take part in Semana Santa, carrying over 115 different floats, or pasos, through the streets of Sevilla. Nazarenos accompany the pasos in the march and in some cases number more than 2,000 for certain processions - in this case you may have to wait an hour to see the actual float. Marching bands play music - la marcha procesiónal - which influences the pace and action of the pasos. Some processions, such as El Silencio, march in silence and without music. Almost every procession includes an image of Christ - different depending on what scene in the bible it depicts - as well as an image of the Virgin Mary, always in mourning for the death of Christ. The images of the Virgin are often the most anticipated for their subtle differences - from facial expressions and characteristics, to tears or other details in the paso. The paso from the Macarena is perhaps one of the most famous imagenes of the Virgin Mary.

I'll keep it short, but we stayed in the best hotel we could find at a reasonable price, quite central location with brotherhoods parading in front of the door almost everyday: Hotel Maestranza. Try to avoid the Holy Thursday and Good Friday, city is packed and prices are high.

Definitely avoid Barcelona, other than additional masses there is only one procession for the entire week - on Good Friday - and it's put on by a group of Sevilla expats, not even connected to the local church.

My favorite experience was Zaragosa on holy Thursday. I think Valladolid would be another outstanding non-touristy venue but I'm a little worried about the weather in March.

I went to Zaragosa on holy Thursday without making any advance reservations and got a great room at a great price. I think you need to book ahead for Sevilla during Semana Santa.

Is Valencia's fire festival also in late March? That's the normal time of year for their festival. If so, I'd plan to include that.

Too bad you won't be able to attend the April Fair in Sevilla, it's a great cultural experience too.

David Again thanks for the link. So much information, that I'm trying to absorb. Now that I've added the Fire Festival in Valencia (thanks again to Brad), it looks like a 3-week trip. My only non-stop flights are Madrid and Barcelona, but since I plan to do some plain old ordinary sightseeing before and/or after that's not a problem.

Leslie Arcos sounds like a great experience. Where else were you during Holy Week? I don't mind bouncing around with 2-3 night stays. Any hotel recommendations?

Jiminez In Seville the hotels are charging the same price all week, so that's not a consideration and I have my favorite hotel there (Amadeus, pretty central, but quieter (hopefully). I'm thinking 3-4 nights from Tuesday or Wednesday through Saturday morning. Do you think that's 3 is enough? too much?

Brad I'm sure Feria is wonderful, but 2 festivals in one trip is all my budget can handle. I'm now planning my 3rd trip to Spain (in 3 years) so chances are pretty good that I'll be back in Andalusia in another year or two and will make sure to include Feria. Zaragoza is too far for me to include, especially since I'm hoping to do most of this trip by train. Maybe I'll get to those northern regions after Feria, when it's a little later in the year.

Does anyone have thoughts about staying in Jerez over Easter weekend and taking a bus to Arcos for the day (Easter Sunday)?

We started in Madrid. I know people love this place but it wasn't for us so we left a day early and went to Toledo. I didn't notice anything going on in Madrid. We also went to Córdoba during Semana Santa and there didn't seem to be much going on but we spent less than 24 hrs there. The same with Rhonda. They were just busier with tourists. In our whole trip of constant moving, there's really only a couple of hotels I'd highly recommend and one was in Barcelona and the other was in Granada. I'll look it up if you are headed there. The one in Arcos was probably a great place outside of our room. Being last minute types we are used to sleeping in cleared out storage rooms sharing the breakfast room bathroom :)

Edit: Just looked up the Arcos hotel. It was La Casa Grande. It looks like people love it on TA.