News: When does the Semana Santa start in Spain

The Semana Santa is the name used in Spain for Holy Week, the week before Easter, which is elaborately designed there.

In some other Catholic countries this week many religious images are covered with purple cloths, the bells remain silent and the organ remains untouched.

In Spain, processions set out to show the suffering of Christ and Mary in the streets in a baroque design and with a grand display. Characteristic are the large image groups that are carried around on gold-plated platforms (pasos). In general, each procession has a paso with a scene from the suffering of Christ and a paso with a sad Mary.

The first Easter Day in 2019 is on Sunday April 21 and the second Easter Day on Monday April 22. In Spain, Friday, April 19 (Good Friday / Viernes Santo) is a non-exchangeable day off, but Thursday, April 18 (Jueves Santo) is that some autonomous regions do have a day off and some do not have a day off, such as in Catalonia and Valencian Community that have moved the free Thursday to Monday, April 22.

The Semana Santa takes place on different dates every year, but in principle always happens between March 22 at the earliest and April 25 at the latest. In 2019 the Semana Santa and therefore also the week of processions starts on Sunday April 14 and lasts until Monday April 22. These are the Spanish names for the Semana Santa days:

April 14 = Domingo de Ramos

April 15 = Lunes Santo

April 16 = Martes Santo

April 17 = Miercoles Santo

April 18 = Jueves Santo (day off except in Catalonia and Valencia region)

April 19 = Viernes Santo (day off throughout Spain)

April 20 = Sábado Santo

April 21 = Domingo de Resurrección

April 22 = Lunes de Pascua (Free holiday in Catalonia and Valencian region)