Holy Week processions mark the main religious celebrations in Spain and most localities on the Costa del Sol have at least one procession.
Any time of the year is good for a visit, due to the goodness of the climate. Holy Week, so profoundly experienced, so particular and blessed; “Las Fiestas de Agosto”; “La Fiesta de Verdiales” (28th December)… make up part of the attraction of Málaga.
The biggest and best are in Malaga whose Holy Week celebrations are famous countrywide. Processions start on Palm Sunday and continue until Easter Sunday with the most dramatic and solemn on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday. Huge ornate floats depicting images from the Passion are carried through the streets by penitents dressed in long purple robes, often with pointed hats, followed by women in black carrying candles.
Drums and trumpets play solemn music and occasionally someone spontaneously sings a mournful saeta dedicated to the floats it makes its way slowly round the streets. Malaga’s most famous parades are the Cristo de la Legión and the Cristo del Perdón whose float is followed by a recently-released prisoner, granted pardon by the float’s brotherhood.
