Ten Unmissable Moments of Alicante's Holy Week

Holy Week in Alicante is experiencing its golden age with over 11,000 people accompanying the 27 scheduled processions throughout the city. The celebration, with more than 400 years of history, has been classified as of National Tourist Interest since 2022. Moreover, it is filled with emotional moments outside the official route. Encounters between various floats, thrilling descents, or exits through the narrow doors of Alicante's churches mark some of the most impressive points on the map to discover this part of the city's tradition.

The four floats of this Brotherhood descend through the narrow streets of Alicante's Old Town each year with meticulous precision. With the streets overflowing and balconies filled, this is one of the most impressive moments of the local Holy Week. The bearers descend the stairs of San Antonio and San Rafael streets with the thrones on their shoulders, creating some of the most spectacular scenes of Holy Wednesday.

The image of Triumphant Jesus, popularly known as 'La Burrita', offers one of the first essential moments to understand Alicante's Holy Week. In the gardens of the Alicante Provincial Council, from 11:15 am, the traditional blessing of palms takes place. Following this, and throughout the procession, this float is accompanied by palms and olive branches. Among the beautiful moments of this day is the procession's passage through the Esplanade, where a sea of palms dresses the Alicante promenade, turning it into a sea of white.

The Christ of the Good Death is one of the most moving sculptures of Alicante's Holy Week. Among the most impressive moments of these days is the exit of this image from the concatedral of San Nicolás, transporting viewers to a scene from the ancient city. The medieval streets go dark to receive this procession. Moreover, the solemn silence accompanying the black hoods grants it an impressive presence, and a feeling of mourning and reflection permeates its route.

The Basilica of Santa María is one of the most complete settings of Alicante's Holy Week. The Plaza de Santa María in the city's Old Town experiences one of the most impressive moments on Holy Tuesday. Thus, the Christ of the Sea exits kneeling through the narrow door of the basilica in complete silence, which is moving due to the effort made by the bearers to bring the image out in procession.

The Last Supper of Alicante's Holy Week is one of the largest processional floats in Spain. Carried by its bearers, the floats of the Pontifical, Royal, Illustrious, Venerable, and Salesian Sacramental Brotherhood of the Last Supper star in the emotional encounter of the four images at the end of the Rambla. This beautiful moment changes location this year as the stop in front of the Alicante Provincial Council is removed.

The procession of the seafaring neighborhood of Raval Roig, the Christ of Morenet, features several tense moments during Alicante's Holy Week. The spectacular exit and entry made to the hermitage through narrow stairs test the bearers' skill and attract hundreds of onlookers each year. Additionally, the float's route along the sand of Postiguet beach and the ascent of the float via the walkway connecting the beach with Virgen del Socorro street is another heart-stopping moment of this procession.

Our Lady of Joy and the Holy Christ Resurrected are among the most crowded processions. They involve the foguerers on one side and all the brotherhoods and confraternities on the other. The most anticipated moment is the Encounter in Alicante's Town Hall Square, where the Virgin and Christ meet under a shower of alleluias thrown from the balconies of the town hall. Additionally, the Virgin's mantle features a unique design covered in flowers each year.

The imposing figure of Christ crucified alongside the two thieves marks a float that impresses with its solemnity. The procession of the Penitential Brotherhood of Forgiveness, known as the "sacks", moves during its procession. The brothers march carrying wooden crosses and torches throughout the route. Additionally, the Holy Rosary is prayed throughout its journey, giving this procession a unique sound.

The four images of the Santa Cruz Brotherhood not only impress with their descent through Alicante's Old Town. Their route through the Rambla, in the official procession, is full of rhythm with floats that more than process, dance to the beat of the drums and cornets that form the soundtrack of Alicante's Holy Week.

Alicante's Holy Week is full of emotional encounters that tell the story of Christ's Passion. However, one of the most special is the one that occurs on Maundy Thursday in front of the Main Theatre. The Christ of Peace and Mary Most Holy of the Greatest Pain are the two images that face each other in this emblematic square. It is the only occasion where the encounter occurs between two floats from different brotherhoods, creating a moment full of symbolism.

Seven of the 27 processional parades that comprise it are distributed between the morning and afternoon of Palm Sunday. It combines Castilian-style parades with others of Andalusian air, or with unique nods to Alicante's identity: Santa Mujer Verónica, Christ of the Sea, or the Procession of Silence. Saetas are not lacking, especially on Holy Wednesday, as the Virgin of Solitude 'La Marinera' passes through the Plaza de la Santísima Faz.

Fifty-two thrones will stage, over seven days, the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. They include mystery floats, virgins, crucifixes, Nazarenes, images with Christs and Virgins, Christs, and independent figures like those of Saint Peter and Veronica.

Maundy Thursday gathers up to five processions on the evening of April 17 -Brotherhood of the Holy Redemption and Mary Most Holy of the Greatest Pain, Brotherhood of the Last Supper, Brotherhood of Our Lady of Piety and Charity and Christ of Peace, Brotherhood of Forgiveness -known as "the sacks", and Brotherhood of the Holy Christ of the Good Death and Our Lady of Sorrows 'the Forgiveness'-. The one that gathers the most spectators is the Brotherhood of Santa Cruz, with its 80 years of history, which processes on the afternoon of Holy Wednesday. The spectacularity in the return to the hermitage 'at the run' dodging uneven steps stands out.