SEMANA SANTA IN PALMA

MAR 27th, 2023

Mallorca’s capital, Palma, is preparing for Easter as ‘Semana Santa’, Holy Week, starts on April 2nd, Palm Sunday. In the coming days, florists and the flower market stalls in Palma’s Rambla sell skilfully woven white palm leaves that traditionally come from Elche in southeast Spain. People take these to church on Palma Sunday to be blessed and, afterward, you may see them hanging over front doors or on balconies of homes here.

The evening of Holy Thursday, Palma hosts the largest and most solemn of the week’s several processions – Crist de la Sang. For a memorable experience, join the people lining the streets to watch members of the religious brotherhoods in their penitentiary robes and tall, pointed hoods as they process slowly for hours through the city to muffled drumbeats.

Palma Cathedral is the place to be on Good Friday at midday when a traditional re-enactment of Christ’s Passion is held on the steps. Outside Palma, the town of Pollença hosts the most moving and memorable of Mallorca’s Easter traditions, the ‘davallament’, in which a statue of the deceased Christ is removed from the cross at dusk and carried in silence by torchlight down the Calvari’s 365 steps to Pollença’s Virgen de los Ángeles church.

The solemn events of ‘Semana Santa’ end with celebrations of the resurrection on Easter Sunday, including Mass in Palma cathedral and the tradition of the ‘Procession of the Meeting’ – depicting the joyful reunion of the resurrected Jesus with his mother, Mary. Towns across Mallorca host their own ‘Semana Santa’ events, albeit on a smaller scale.

Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Monday are all public holidays in Mallorca. Happy Easter from us all at Mallorca Sunshine Radio.