Málaga’s Easter (Holy Week) is one of the most important festivities of the year for the locals. Malaga’s processions amaze people who contemplate them for the first time because of their spectacular nature. Tradition and fervour go together in this celebration, which this year starts on March 25th, Palm Sunday, and finishes on April 1st, Easter Sunday.
Processions itineraries for Málaga’s Easter 2018
During the Holly Week, more than forty brotherhoods will go on procession along the Costa del Sol capital city to commemorate the Passion of Christ. The emotion and fervour can be felt during the floats processions, which are accompanied by “saetas” singing (sacred songs), and cornets and drums music. The magnificence of the floats, some of them carried by more than 200 men, advances among the many people who, from balconies or down on the streets, honour their brotherhoods.
The official itinerary for all the processions of Málaga’s Holly Week starts at Alameda Principal, and from there they go through the main streets of the historical centre. An essential place to contemplate them is the Tribuna de los Pobres, which has become a natural stand to see the processions.
Málaga’s Easter: Legionarios
One of the most special moments of Málaga’s Holly Week takes place on Maundy Thursday, with the Cristo de la Buena Muerte procession, carried by La Legión (legionnaires). The sculpture is carried by members of the Spanish Legion and the Navy, with troops, a music band and a cornets band. With the Cristo de Mena on their arms, the legionnaires sing the military anthem: ‘El novio de la muerte’ (The Death’s Boyfriend).
Easter ‘Traslados’
Málaga’s Holy Week unofficially starts around one week before Palm Sunday, with the first ‘traslados’ (transfers), which are short processions with just one single little float, which goes accompanied by just the two brotherhood’s heads and, almost always, by a music band or something similar. The aim of these “traslados” is to move the sculptures from the church to the brotherhood house, the place from where they will start the procession.
