La Semana Santa in Seville is one of the most important events that are held every year in the city. While booking your Cheap Hostel in Sevilla for those days, gat ready for a week full of devotion, mysticism, faith, excitement, joy and religious fervor. The Semana Santa is the religious and cultural most outstanding event in a city of deep-rooted traditions and religious beliefs.
The Holy Week celebration in Sevilla is one of the most important Semana Santa celebrations in Spain, and has a wide international prestige. It's an International Touristic Interest declared celebration. Nevertheless, you must know that the Holy Week not only lasts just for seven days: the people from Sevilla prepare their Semana Santa along the whole year by working at their Hermandades -their catholic religious groups, normally devotees of a saint- focusing their work on three main important ideas: Tuition, Cult and Charity.
The Holy Week runs from sunday to sunday: the Domingo de Ramos to the Easter Sunday.
Many tourists, both national and foreign travel to the city to participate in this important religious holiday. Each day, during the morning, you will have the opportunity to visit the different Hermandades -brotherhoods- that procession that day at their parishes.
All the Hermandades go out from their parish for their "Penitencia", making all of them an official route, which starts at the Plaza de la Campana and runs through Sierpes, Plaza del Salvador, Avenida de la Constitution, the Cathedral and Plaza Virgen de los Reyes, returning then back to the parish.
Sevilla reaches its greatest Holy Week day on the Viernes Santo "Madrugá" (Good Friday). Some of the Hermandades with the greatest devotion and popularity made their penitencia on that evening: El Silencio, Gran Poder, Macarena, Trianera, El Calvario and Los Gitanos. They leave their churches at midnight and are carried throughout the night with huge crowds following their every step. One of the brightest moments of the Holy Week in Sevilla takes place around 3am, when La Macarena, Seville's most revered Virgin, reaches the official route.
If you plan booking a Hostel in Sevilla for the Holy Week, do it well in advance, since as we said before, the city gets crowded by spanish and foreign tourists. Once you're in the city, we suggest you that before leaving your accommodation, you prepare your itinerary, places and time scheduling in which you want to see the different Hermandades. Avoid the crowds of people (called "Bullas"), use comfortable footwear and clothing. Remember that the best way to reach the city center is using the public transportation.
