Holy Week in Alicante 2025: Holy Wednesday Processions in Alicante

Holy Week in Alicante reaches its peak on Holy Wednesday, when the entire city gathers in Santa Cruz, near the Castle of Santa Barbara. Amid narrow alleys, whitewashed houses, beautiful facades adorned with flowers, and secluded lost squares, the processions of the penitential brotherhood of the traditional Alicante neighbourhood take place. Four figures, four thrones deeply felt by the devoted people of Alicante, who from early afternoon await their arrival in the spaces left in doorways and corners of Santa Cruz.

If the Holy Week of Alicante has been a National Tourist Interest Festival since 2022, it is also because of this very special Holy Wednesday.

It is not the only brotherhood that brings splendour to this Holy Wednesday, as the Divine Love and Our Lady of Solitude 'The Sailor' are also tradition and essence of Alicante, as it is the oldest virgin preserved in the Holy Week of Alicante.

Holy Wednesday commemorates the meeting in the Jewish Sanhedrin that condemned Jesus Christ. On this day, in Alicante, the Penitential Brotherhood of the Holy Cross and the Sacramental Brotherhood of the Divine Love Christ and Our Lady of Solitude "The Sailor" will process.

One of the classic images of Alicante's Holy Week is the moment when the four floats of this Brotherhood descend through the streets of the Santa Cruz neighbourhood, the historical heart of the city and origin of Alicante. It is upon their exit that the thrones descend through the narrow streets of this Alicante neighbourhood—all of them with challenging stairs and slopes—amid the emotion and fervour of those who follow the images.

A route that will begin at 7 p.m. from the Hermitage of Santa Cruz, then proceed through Diputado Auset, San Antonio, San Rafael, Carmen Square, Cienfuegos, Santos Médicos, and San Cristóbal.

At 9:15 p.m., this brotherhood will receive the Venia to continue with the official procession route, which will follow Rambla de Méndez Núñez, Mayor Street, Muñoz, and Abad Penalva Square next to the Co-Cathedral of San Nicolás, where the floats will be blessed before the Patroness of Alicante. Additionally, in this last square, the meeting of the Virgin and the Christ of Faith will occur around 10 p.m.

From there, they will head back to Santa Cruz, passing through Labradores Street, Argensola, Carmen Square, San Rafael, San Antonio, and Diputado Auset until their return at midnight (12:30 a.m.). During Holy Wednesday, the floats will be on display at the Hermitage of Santa Cruz from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Amid the narrow streets of Santa Cruz, the bearers will carry the titular images of this brotherhood founded in 1945. The figure of Our Father Jesus Captive, sculpted by García Quinto in 1995, will lead the procession. Among the carvings of this brotherhood, the Holy Christ of Faith, one of the city's most traditional figures known as 'The Gypsy', will also process. It is a carving by Ortega Bru from 1974.

Also processing is the Virgin of Sorrows, a sculpture by García Quinto from 1994, guarded by the National Police Corps assigned to the Generalitat. The last float of this brotherhood will be the Descent, a work by Castilo Lastrucci commissioned in 1946, which will be guarded by the Civil Guard.

Regarding this year's novelties, the float of Our Lady of Sorrows will debut a new skirt thanks to the donation of a devotee, Valentín Ruiz Moreno, who is both the author and donor. Additionally, Germán Merino has restored the cross of the Christ of Faith and in the Sacred Mystery of the Descent has restored the image of Christ and Nicodemus.

On Holy Tuesday, this Brotherhood will also walk the streets of the city, boasting one of the oldest historical carvings in the city. In fact, the Virgin of Solitude—nicknamed 'The Sailor'—dates back to 1710. It is a sculpture by Bautista Vera that was burned during the riots of 1931, although it was rescued and restored.

Additionally, the sculptural group of the Christ of Divine Love is the other float of this brotherhood. A work from the religious workshop 'Viuda de Reixach', carved in 1942 in Barcelona, the year of this group's foundation.

The procession will depart from the Convent of the Blood Nuns and will walk through San Agustín Street, San Nicolás, Santos Médicos, San Cristóbal, Primo de Rivera, and López Torregrosa. With the Venia at 8:30 p.m., this Brotherhood will begin the official route.

After completing this journey, the floats will return to the Convent of the Blood Nuns at 10:15 p.m., through a route along Mayor Street, Santísima Faz Square, Lonja de Caballeros, and Virgen del Remedio Square. Additionally, during their march, saetas will be sung to the floats, also upon their return at Santísima Faz Square.

Among the peculiarities of this procession is the spectacular exit of the Virgin, as it is carried out on its knees due to the dimensions of the carving and the door of the Convent. This figure is carried by the Law School Tuna of the University of Alicante. Additionally, the meeting of the two thrones on the street of the Nuns is one of the most exciting moments of this procession.

This year will be the first processional outing of the Virgin of Solitude "The Sailor" after her canonical coronation, which took place on November 23, 2024, at the Monastery of the Holy Face.