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Semana Santa 2018: Sevilla or Malaga?

Posted by (Tucson) on

My sensible walking shoes haven't yet cooled down from my trip this summer to Italy and I'm already thinking of Spain in the spring.

Naturally, I knew that our 30th wedding anniversary is April 1, 2018. I only recently realized that is also Easter Sunday next year. Add in my obsession with experiencing Semana Santa and the result is blatantly obvious.

The question is where: Malaga or Sevilla. Both will be wild and crazy. Bring it on!

The intention is to spend Holy Week in an apartment in one of those cities. I hope I'll be able to find a place overlooking a procession route street. Beyond that we would also be spending a week each in the city not chosen for Holy Week, Granada and probably Alicante.

I would love to hear from anyone who has experienced Semana Santa in Sevilla or Malaga. I did search doing this here on the RS website. Rick's tips about this are very positive. Many forum respondents are pretty negative.

Posted by
993 posts

We only had a couple of days and we chose Cordoba since we thought it would be less crazy (it was just me and my 13 year old son on this trip). I loved it so much. We took tours both nights with Arten Cordoba and it was great to have a guide for the processions.

So I would pick Sevilla because you could have an opportunity to possibly visit some other places too and see their processions. It was really awesome, we loved it!

Posted by
11294 posts

If Chani doesn't answer in this thread, ask her in a private message. She has been to these cities during Santa Semana, but I forget her details (she has posted them - I'll try to search for them).

Posted by
4157 posts

Thanks for finding that, Harold. It's very helpful. I'll also PM her.

Posted by
15591 posts

Don't bother, I'm right here. And my answer is MALAGA. There's a special procession on Easter Sunday in Granada - you could probably do that on a day trip from Malaga. A week in Granada may be too long. I wasn't as taken by it as I expected. I was there for 3 full days (4N) and felt 2 days would have been enough and it's not convenient for day trips. I love both Sevilla (not so much during Semana Santa) and Cordoba (my favorite Spanish city). Sevilla would be better for a week with day trips by train and/or bus to Jerez, Cadiz, Arcos and Cordoba.

I haven't been to Alicante.

Posted by
4157 posts

Thanks, Chani. With more reading, I've been leaning more toward Malaga, and not only because of Antonio Banderas. We've never been there.

Years back we went to Sevilla for a few days concentrated on Flamenco. We did a side trip from there to Cordoba to see the Mezquita. We haven't been to Granada or Alicante.

I think I'm a slow traveler, but my husband thinks I try to cram too much in. Truth be told, we both simply like being in a place. We don't have to do too much there, hence the roughly one week in each city plan.

I was scheming on side trips southwest of Sevilla, but haven't done the research I need to do about that. Your love of Cordoba is also making me think again about that city. So much Andalusia, so little time!

Posted by
15591 posts

I don't know if my comparison between Sevilla and Malaga is totally fair, since I was in Malaga at the beginning of the week and in Sevilla at the end. In Malaga, people watched and took part in the processions with excitement and reverence. In Sevilla the atmosphere was noticeably less serious and more like a spectacle.

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