Seville's Holy Week for Families and Small Groups
Holy Week turns Seville's streets into a slow river of processions, music and candlelight. A minibus with a driver will not take you into the heart of it, but it gets your group close, takes you home afterwards and opens up calmer trips out of town.
Dates and the Madrugá
Holy Week 2027 begins on 21 March, Palm Sunday, and ends on 28 March, Easter Sunday. Its most intense night, the Madrugá, falls on 25 to 26 March: processions set out at midnight as Holy Thursday ends and keep walking until Good Friday morning.
Each day several brotherhoods leave churches in different districts, pass along the Carrera Oficial, which starts at the Plaza de la Campana and ends at the Cathedral, then walk home again. Some spend over ten hours in the streets.
Moving around a closed centre
With processions and crowds filling the centre day and night, large parts of it close to traffic. There is no published coach plan for the week, so the operator confirms where your minibus can set down near your hotel, perhaps in Triana or Los Remedios.
Routes and times for each procession appear every year in the official programmes. Choose one or two to see, then agree the pickup spot around them rather than the other way round.
Dates and places
- Processions from churches across Sevilla; all pass along the Carrera Oficial, from the Plaza de la Campana to the Cathedral
- Palm Sunday 21 March to Easter Sunday 28 March 2027; the Madrugá is the night of Holy Thursday to Good Friday (25 to 26 March 2027)
A day away from the crowds
Measured from the centre, the ruins of Itálica are about 20 minutes away and Carmona about 40. Jerez de la Frontera takes around 1 h 25 min, a good choice for a day among the sherry bodegas.
Monuments may change opening hours during the week, so check before setting off.
What travellers ask us
How far is the airport?
It is a 25-minute drive in clear traffic, roughly 11 km from the Cathedral. Arriving the day before Palm Sunday makes the first evening easier.
Can we stay on for the Feria?
The April Fair comes two weeks after Holy Week, so it suits a longer stay or a second trip rather than the same week.
Is a minibus useful during the Madrugá?
Mostly for getting there and back. Processions fill the centre through the night, so plan to walk the last stretch and agree a return time with the driver.