Semana Santa in Malaga – An Amazing Travel Experience

I remember first becoming aware of Spain’s Holy Week (Semana Santa in Spanish) while watching the Granada episode of Anthony Bourdain’s travel show. I quickly became intrigued by both the pageantry and the devotion I witnessed on the small screen. When I realized that our travels this year would take us to Malaga in the month of March – the same month as Easter – we adjusted our schedule and our lodging so that we could fully experience all things Semana Santa in Malaga. And what an experience it was!

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What is Semana Santa?

Holy Week events are common throughout Catholic-predominant countries. But Spain is known for having the most elaborate. Semana Santa celebrations have been held in Spain for 500 years. The purpose? To commemorate the Passion of Christ….all the events that occurred during the final days of his life through to the Resurrection, which is then celebrated on Easter.

During the Holy Week before Easter, various Catholic parishes around Spain put on elaborate processions through the streets of their city. The processions are organized and staffed by the Brotherhoods of each Parish. These are member-run organizations that manage the Parish’s social aspects.

And depending on the region of Spain, the Semana Santa processions can be very elaborate indeed.

Semana Santa in Malaga is One of the Best

The Andalucia region is generally thought to have the grandest Holy Week processions in all of Spain. And the two largest cities in Andalucia – Seville and Malaga – are considered to have the very best in the country, if not the world.

Malaga has 45 different Brotherhoods. Each one of these Brotherhoods organizes its own Semana Santa procession. And these processions are then spread throughout that week before Easter.

This means that on each day of Holy Week in Malaga, 6-7 different groups of faithful parishioners march through the city streets. Yes, that’s 45 different processions over the course of just one week!

And as I will explain a little further down, these processions are huge. With well over 1000 participants per procession!

The main focus of each procession are two huge floats (called Pasos), both of which are carried on the shoulders of the faithful (called Costaleros).

Each procession starts at the respective Brotherhood House, marches through its own neighborhood, then into Old Town Malaga, through a bunch of grandstands, and ultimately into Malaga’s huge Cathedral. And then back!

Depending on the distance from the Brotherhood House to the Cathedral, these processions can last up to 10 hours! Often into the wee hours of the night. It really is an impressive undertaking by all involved.

I’ll be giving you even more detail about these amazing Malaga Semana Santa processions further down in the post.

Scoping Out Our Neighborhood Parish

But first, let’s take a look at what happens in Malaga during the days ahead of Semana Santa.

We arrived in Malaga three weeks before Holy Week, so we had plenty of time to watch the city transform, while we learned about the process of preparing for Semana Santa in Malaga.

In the photo above, you can see our neighborhood Church. We stayed a few blocks outside of Old Town Malaga in the La Trinidad neighborhood. And this Church is called Parroquia San Pablo.

For most of the year, the Parish houses its two holiest statues inside the church, in a gated side chapel, adjacent to the alter. One is a statue of Christ – his hands bound. This statue is called Jesus Captive. The other is a statue of the Virgin Mary. These top each of the Parish’s two floats during Semana Santa. However, when we arrived in Malaga, they were still locked up on display inside the church.

The photo below, shows the Brotherhood House of our neighborhood Parish. It’s called the Cofradia del Cautivo or Brotherhood of Our Father Jesus Captive. It’s located about five blocks away from the church. Notice the images of its two holy statues painted on the side of the building.

On one side of this brotherhood house you’ll see a huge green door. Every brotherhood house has a huge door. Why? Because this is where you will find the two floats during most of the year. And then, on procession day, they have to pass through the door…while on top of several hundred shoulders.

As we wandered around Malaga in the weeks prior to Semana Santa, we became quite adept at spotting brotherhood houses. We simply looked for a giant door.

Behind Closed Doors

Behind those giant doors in the weeks before Semana Santa – the floats are going through their various stages of preparation and decoration.

I passed by several brotherhood houses during those weeks, and if I ever saw an open side door, I would poke my head through, hoping to get a glimpse of the process.

And whenever I was spotted by a Brother, rather than being shooed away as a nosy tourist, I was always invited inside, and allowed to look around and take pictures.

One Brother from our neighborhood’s Cautivo Brotherhood House even let me put my shoulder underneath the massive staves, just to get a sense of what it’s all about. He then went to great lengths explaining the Pasos to us, though sadly his explanation was all in Spanish. It was still fun to witness his passion.

And, it was fun to witness the Pasos undergo their transformation during those weeks before Semana Santa.

Malaga Transformed

The streets of Old Town Malaga underwent their own transformation in the days leading up to Semana Santa. During Holy Week in Malaga, each procession works its way to Old Town, where each then follows a universal route to the Cathedral. This route is lined with chairs and various grandstands.

Each day’s processions are staggered so that they pass through the grandstands one right after the other. Usually throughout the evening.

About one week prior to the start of Semana Santa in Malaga, the building-side banners started to appear, grandstands started to rise, and stacks of chairs started to show up.

However, all of this never really interfered significantly with our regular tourist activities in Malaga. And none of it affected the side streets through Old Town whatsoever.

Our Neighborhood Traslado

Since we were in Malaga the week prior to Semana Santa, we were able to witness the very important predecessor to the Holy Week processions – the Traslado or Transfer (in English)

The Traslado is an entirely different procession, but on a smaller scale. This is when each Parish’s holy statues are transferred from their respective Churches to their respective Brotherhood Houses. Once there, they are situated atop the floats in final preparation for Semana Santa.

And this is no small event. My sense is that the entire Parish comes to witness the Transfer. (And keep in mind, 45 Transfers happen throughout Malaga in the week prior to Semana Santa.)

Here’s what the Transfer for our neighborhood’s Cautivo Brotherhood was like…

First, the square outside the church was jam packed with parishioners. TV crews too! (Yes, it’s a big deal.) The two statues can be seen in the photo above “waiting” at the doorway.

In the meantime, crowds were lining up along the procession route through the neighborhood.

And vendors too. But not food vendors. Vendors selling religious trinkets.

Eventually, the Jesus Captive and the Virgin Mary made their way to our chosen viewing place. They were accompanied by a marching band, and multiple parishioners followed behind – many blindfolded and barefoot as a sign of piety.

The statues were sitting jointly atop a much smaller float than the Semana Santa pasos. But the float was still carried shoulder-top.

As the float moved up the street and the crowds around us dispersed, we found ourselves quite amazed by the whole Traslado experience.

It wasn’t even Holy Week yet, but we had witnessed something that was clearly very important for the residents of our temporarily adopted neighborhood. All the onlookers were so enthralled and engaged – from the very young to the very old.

We were excited to see what came next!

Rained Out

Sadly, what came next for the Cautivo Brotherhood was rain and a cancelled Semana Santa procession.

It doesn’t generally rain a lot in Malaga. In fact, Malaga is ranked as the sunniest destination in Europe with around 320 days of sunshine per a year. But in 2024, more than 50% of the Semana Santa processions in Malaga were cancelled due to rain.

Imagine how devastating that was for the brotherhood houses and the parishioners! All the hours and hours and hours of preparation down the tubes.

Early on, as we watched the rainy forecast for Holy Week in Malaga, we wondered what would happen if it rained only intermittently on any particular night. Would the processions proceed somehow over a modified route? Or might the brotherhoods partially cover the floats?

Well, with only a few exceptions, if rain was forecast at any point during a brotherhood’s allotted procession time, the brotherhood cancelled it. The floats and statues are too precious and ornate to risk getting wet.

One brotherhood house did give it a try one night, got caught in a downpour, and took a beating in the local press the next day. Fortunately, they later reported no long-term damage had been done to the pasos or statues.

The Cautivo Brotherhood was more cautious. And in our neighborhood, as word spread that the Cautivo procession had been cancelled, crowds started to gather at the Brotherhood House. Because when it’s stormy, at least the doors can open and the completed pasos with their fully-adorned Holy Statues can still be viewed and admired.

And in the street outside the Brotherhood House, there was a crush of worshipers. I know because I stood in that crowd – just so I could complete my Cautivo Semana Santa experience.

As I inched along with the crowd, I saw so many sad disappointed faces. Even some weeping.

Once the giant door opened and the crowd started to slowly file past, I could hear singing and speeches coming from inside the Brotherhood House.

And eventually I made it up to the doorway, where I could see the two completed Cautivo pasos…in the same space where I’d “fake-lifted” one of them a few weeks earlier.

A Sunny Semana Santa Day

Despite all the cancellations, we did get to see a couple of Semana Santa processions on the streets of Malaga during that week before Easter.

And what a sight they were!!

As I mentioned earlier, each procession is made of over 1000 parishioners. Many of these participants are dressed in robes and conical hoods. These figures are called Nazarenos.

And I know what they look like – but the style of these costumes date back to the Middle Ages. Their covered faces are representative of their penitence before God, and the cone points towards heaven.

Each Semana Santa procession includes hundreds of Nazarenos. They pass by you in long rows ahead of each float. And white isn’t the only color. In fact, each Brotherhood house has its own representative colors, and each procession features two different colors of Nazareno costumes.

You’ll also see different types of banners, including some depicting various scenes from the Passion of Christ. And lots of other types of robed outfits and hoods, including some worn by children.

And there are bands. In fact, each processions features three different marching bands playing relatively somber processional religious music. One at the beginning, one in between the two floats, and one at the end.

Pasos in All Their Glory

Ultimately, after lots of Nazarenos and the initial band, the first Paso comes into view. This is always the smaller of the two. And features the Passion of Christ statue from the representative Parish Church.

These floats are big and heavy. The largest can weight up to 5 tons! Several hundred parishioners carry these upon their shoulders – for the entire length of the procession. They do stop for frequent rests however. Which is one reason the processions can take so long – some of them up to 10 hours (for the more distant brotherhood houses.)

After more Nazarenos and more music, it’s time for the second Paso. This is always the largest and most ornate. It always features the Virgin Mary, though each Parish has its own representation. She is always surrounded by candles and covered by a canopy. And the photo below isn’t blurry – it’s smoke from the burning incense that accompanies Her.

And there are crowds of people everywhere. Crowds on the street. People out on their balconies. TV crews and photographers strategically set up along the route.

It’s really something you should witness for yourself if you ever get the chance!

Semana Santa from a Malaga Rooftop

As I mentioned earlier, we chose our Malaga lodging so as to optimize our Semana Santa experience. When I was searching for an Airbnb rental in Malaga, I came across a host who enthusiastically advertised her apartment as ideal for Semana Santa.

And it was! It was located on an intersection between two different processional routes for the various neighborhood parishes in the area.

From the roof of the building, we could observe processions down a major street feeding directly into Old Town. And from our kitchen, we could observe processions coming from a different part of town in the side street below.

We were sad when four of the six processions scheduled to pass by our apartment were cancelled due to rain. But still, we were able to see two.

And it did give us a completely different perspective of these processions. Plus a full appreciation for the number of people required to carry these massive Semana Santa pasos.

This is what we saw from our rooftop….

And this is what we saw from our kitchen…

Imagine the sound from the bands reverberating off the building walls up towards us.

And then there was this moment….when our neighbors dumped rose petals from the roof above.

Pretty cool!!

Some Tips For Navigating The Week

1. Our Airbnb host Patricia was an invaluable resource and answered a lot of our Semana Santa questions over WhatsApp when they would arise. Like when we accidentally stumbled onto a Translado procession and had no idea what it was. She also put a procession schedule in the apartment for us, and personally guided us through it when we checked in. I’m sure that no matter where you stay, your rental host or hotel concierge will have advice.

2. I discovered that the website for a publication called La Opinion de Malaga provided great coverage of Semana Santa in Malaga. And I could use my Safari browser to translate it. This is how I stayed informed on cancellations and adjustments.

3. You do need tickets to watch the procession from the chairs and grandstands in Old Town. But you can freely watch the processions from anywhere else along routes.

4. The processions are not hard to find. If you are anywhere in central Malaga, just follow the sound of distant music or follow the crowds.

5. Unless you are Semana Santa diehard, I don’t think that you need to watch more than a couple of processions. They are all very similar.

6. On Easter Sunday, there is only one procession. It starts in the morning from one of Old Town Malaga’s most historic churches. And the Passion float features the Risen Christ. You’ll not be surprised to learn that this final procession during our Holy Week in Malaga was cancelled due to rain. But I was able to visit the church on Easter morning and see the float inside.

Malaga Tourism During Semana Santa

You are probably wondering how Semana Santa affects regular tourism in Malaga. While it’s undeniable busier during that week, I didn’t really notice any major negative impact on our overall experience around town.

The center of Old Town was crazy busy on those evenings when the weather allowed for processions. But the outskirts of Old Town were not.

The tourist hotspots like the Picasso Museum and Cathedral were busier during the daytime for sure. But since Easter doesn’t fall in peak tourist season, I didn’t find it particular overwhelming. In fact, we made our own visit to the Picasso Museum during Holy Week (the museum’s timed-ticketing system helps with crowd management).

Overall, we really enjoyed Malaga the whole time we were in town. If you want to learn more about the city itself, then be sure to check out my blog post Is Malaga Worth Visiting?

Final Thoughts

Other than the atypical rain issues, Semana Santa in Malaga was everything we’d hoped for. It was an amazing new cultural experience for us. But even more than the processions (which were fantastic), it was witnessing the passion of the Malagueño people themselves that really stood out to us. Semana Santa is clearly their most important week of the year. And it was an honor for us to share it with them.

If you would like to read more about our time in Malaga, then check out these posts:

Any Easy Day Trip From Malaga – The White Village of Mijas Pueblo

Visiting Antequera From Malaga – The Challenges & The Rewards

Traveling on the Iryo High Speed Train From Madrid to Malaga

And if you would like to read more about other places we’ve visited in Spain, then check out these posts:

How Many Days in Madrid Are Enough – A Look at Spain’s Capital

3 Great Day Trips from Seville Spain

Avila or Segovia – Which is the Better Madrid Day Trip?