Easter in Seville

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The celebration of Holy Week in Seville is the most important festival of the city.

During the week more than 50 guilds from every neighborhood (named for the guild that gave them birth or Christ or the Virgin or the parish where they reside), go in procession through the streets of Seville, with dozens of siblings and Nazarenes , accompanying their sacred images to the Cathedral. What are guilds? They are just groups of lay faithful (Nazarenes) who, during the Holy Week, imitate the suffering of Christ in his Passion and Death, with a public penance during processions.  Each brotherhood, has an outfit that features: tunic, badges and shoes, and a hood over the head of different colors, according to the guild.

But do not think of a purely religious party, along with the April Fair, also held in Seville are the two major spring festivals that have become major tourist attractions. Whether or not believers, the Holy Week in Seville is a delight for the senses: music bands and the noise of the crowds and the respectful silence, the smell of incense and the sweet surrounding aroma of orange blossoms, the multitud of colors of the city in the wake of the spring, the banners and tourists and locals contrasting with the black dress of Sevillanas on Holy Thursday (the "mantilla" or black dress mourning the death of Christ which includes lace mantilla , clothing, gloves, shoes and even antique silver jewelry.)

The processions begin on Palm Sunday and ends the following Sunday (Easter Sunday), with a route and time previously set by the City Council making hours. The Carrera Oficial (Official Race) is the path that all the fraternities have to walk in the course of penance, ranging from the Plaza de la Campana and Sierpes street to the Plaza de San Francisco, hence the Constitution Avenue to the Cathedral.

When the guilds are going, there is an immediate agglomeration of people of which, difficult to escape, that is called "bulla.". Do not try to escape or go "upstream", because as soon as the procession marched, the crowd disperses magically. In the procession, each guild walks with Nazarenes and their bearers (the brothers who carry images or "pasos") accompanied by plenty of Seville locals and tourists, crowding as they go by, carrying candles and crosses, typical of the guild. Usually musical bands accompany the procession. Each guild must have its own banner (usually a large velvet with the color of the brotherhood and embroidered, tied to a silver bar topped with a cross)

Now some tips and traditions for our tourist friends of the Club:

Sevilla is overflowing with tourists at this time of year, book accommodation before you go, take a look below our recommendations.

Given the large number of processions, as this celebration is held on the street, if you have a car, perhaps it is better to leave it in the hotel, the holiday is to enjoy worry-free.

If you go with children, avoid the vicinity of the Cathedral, there will be too many people.

A tradition is to release the Palm Sunday a garment, choose something nice. Furthermore, people usually get dressed in a neat style that day.

Get a program with the times and locations of the processions (any newspaper or tourist information office will do).

At this time, the perfume of orange blossoms in the city, buy any of the delicious waters of Seville orange blossoms, which besides being a delicious perfume, is a good souvenir to take to your friends.

You will be too many hours standing and walking a lot, so wear comfortable used shoes, sports preferably.

Take advantage of these days, to try local typical gastronomy for this week: cod stew with chickpeas, cod with tomato and toast classic dessert torrijas (if you like cinnamon, you shouldn’t lose them).

Tips on accommodation in Seville for Easter.

The dates of the next Holy Week will be the week that ends on Sunday March 31, 2013, sunday when Passover itself is celebrated. While Seville offers many options for accommodation, as it is is one of the most visited cities in Andalusia, it must be said that finding accommodation on Easter, can become difficult if you don't make hotel booking in advance. From here, we recommend to do reservations several months earlier. Thus, you can find best location at lower prices. Anyway, for this 2013 you are still on time for booking, with a good hotel availability. In the Tourists Club you will find a large number of available hotels in Seville, from where you can choose the options that better suit you. As to the place, most of the hotels are clustered in the downtown of the city, where you have everything at hand. At left, you have a map with street names and the route of the guilds (cofradias). If you want to be close, just search your hotel address in our map (click on it for zoom). You also have a good list of accommodation on this area at this link (including the date of your arrival, you can sort them by price).

We hope these tips and tourist information have been useful to you and encourage you to live intensely this feast of Easter. Believers or not, you will probably take from Seville a wonderful memory that will live forever in your memory.

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Recommend - Restaurants and Bars (Easter in Seville)

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