Holy Week in Malaga, Spain, commemorates the Passion of Christ through processions featuring realistic sculptures carried on ceremonial platforms accompanied by nazarenes. Over the course of Holy Week, from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday, religious brotherhoods parade their images through the streets, beginning and ending their routes at the Cathedral. The processions are a centuries-old tradition particular to Malaga and involve thousands of penitents and spectators.

1. HOLY WEEK IN MALAGA
In 2010 Holy Week will be the week of March 28(Palm Sunday) - April 4 (Easter
Sunday)
The image of Jesus the humiliation is the protagonist of the announcer poster of the
Malaga 2010 Easter. The artist José Rando Soto wanted to translate a poster called
"respect for all".
The Holy Week in Malaga is the staging of the Passion of Christ in its various stages, as
shown in the realistic sculptures that are carried on the ceremonial platforms,
accompanied by the ‘nazarenes’. These members of the brotherhoods are not just
‘penitents’; their roots are found way back in the doctrines of the Council of Trent.
They first took the form of the ‘via crucis’ (the ‘way of the cross’, or the ‘stations of the
cross’); later came the special devotion to certain images that resulted in the creation of
religious associations.
These brotherhoods then became a crucial bonding element within their neighbourhood
or parish. The main obligation of these religious associations is to bring their members,
during the time of penitence, out from their headquarters, chapel or shed (there still
exist fraternities installed in alleys and corners of the city under a provisional scaffold),
to pass by the Cathedral and from there journey back to their church.
Holy Week in Malaga, is an ancient tradition that dates back to the age of the Catholic
Monarchs. The city of Malaga is the capital city of the Costa del Sol and is located in
Andalusia, the south of Spain, a land that perfectly combines modernity and tradition in
the middle of the 21st Century. The most famous of these traditions is, undoubtedly, its
well-known Holy Week of Malaga.
For more than 500 years of history, Holy Week of Malaga has been constantly present
in the religious and popular feeling of people from Malaga
Every year, during the Passion Week in Malaga takes out to the streets a real festival
perceptible by the five senses: processional thrones carrying images that are swung all
along the entire route, thousands of penitents lighting and giving colour with their
candles and robes, processional marches, as well as aromas of incense and flowers
filling the air as the processions pass by and thousands of people crowded to see and
applaud their favourite tronos (floats, thrones).
Holy Week in Malaga, is very different to that celebrated in other Andalusians or
Spanish places, and those who go to Malaga for the first time will be surprised, as the
Passion Week there is not lived with meditation and silence, but it is full of happiness,
noise, cheer, spontaneous saetas (flamenco verses sung at the processions) and
applauses as the images pass by.
Some tronos (floats) of Holy Week of Malaga, are so huge that they must be housed in
other places different form the churches, as they are taller than the entrance doors; real
walking chapels of over 5,000 kilos swung by dozens of bearers. And also military
parades playing processional marches or singing their anthems along the route. All this

2. do not imply a lack of religiosity, but it is just the particular way that people from
Malaga live their faith and feeling during the Holy Week.
Everyone seems to have a favorite procession for various reasons: they are members
of the church or maybe a family member is part of the procession, the church is in
their barrio, the music accompanying a trono or lack of it , the time of night or day can
all be reasons to not miss one in particular.
DAYS OF THE HOLY WEEK IN MALAGA
Palm Sunday (Domingo de Ramos)
The First day of Holy Week. The church commemorates the triumphal entrance of
Jesus Christ into Jerusalem as the “servant” of the Word of God. From the fifth
century the entrance of Jesus Christ to Jerusalem has been celebrated in this holy city
with a procession.
Seven Easter societies stage their processions of Malaga in Palm Sunday, parading a
total of twelve shoulder-borne floats or tronos. Excitement and colour are the
watchwords on this first day of Holy Week of Malaga.
Holy Monday (Lunes Santo)
Throughout Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of Holy Week, Jesus Christ continues
his work, conscious of the irremediable end that is about to come. In the Holy Week
processions the last week of Jesus’ life continues to be remembered.
The processions of this day are of greatest contrast in Holy Week in Malaga, since each
of the six societies that carry their eleven tronos or floats has a most individual style.
Holy Tuesday (Martes Santo)
Throughout Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of Holy Week, Jesus Christ continues
his work, conscious of the irremediable end that is about to come. In the Holy Week
processions the last week of Jesus’ life continues to be remembered.
La Victoria church plays a key role today as three of the six societies whose Malaga
processions take place on Holy Tuesday come from this typical district of the city.
Holy Wednesday (Miércoles Santo)
Throughout Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of Holy Week, Jesus Christ continues
his work, conscious of the irremediable end that is about to come. In the Holy Week
processions the last week of Jesus’ life continues to be remembered.
Today we reach the halfway stage of Easter Week with six societies parading their
thirteen tronos. Grandeur and splendour are the words that best sum up each and every
one of these processions of the Holy Week in Malaga.

3. Holy Thursday (Jueves Santo)
It was on this day that Jesus attended the Last Supper, where he created the Eucharist
and washed the feet of his disciples to show that we must clean our hearts. Following
the betrayal of Judas, Jesus Christ was arrested, judged before Pontius Pilate, and
condemned.
The Thursday is without doubt the most popular day of the Holy Week Malaga in terms
of attendance.
Holy Friday (Viernes Santo )
The day when the glorious Passion of Jesus Christ is celebrated together with his
victorious death. Here, the Cross of God is considered the symbol of salvation. Jesus
Christ is nailed to the cross between the thieves Dimas and Gestas; after many years of
waiting, he can finally fulfil his dream of redeeming man. Today is the most important
of all the days celebrated by the Church.
Silence is the main feature on this day of mourning and reflection of the Holy Week in
Malaga. Fourteen tronos are paraded through the streets of Malaga as eight different
societies carry their sacred images.
Easter Sunday (Domingo de Resurrección)
It is Easter Sunday, the Day of Resurrection; the joyful day of the Resurrection of Jesus
Christ. In the Gospels it is modestly told how, on this Sunday morning, the women
visited Jesus' tomb and realised he had come back to life.
The procession of El Resucitado is Malaga's celebration of the resurrection of the Lord
and it is the last procession in the Holy Week Malaga. Nazarenes from each and every
one of the societies take part together, creating a colourful cortège that, due to its
extreme length, is best viewed sitting in one of the seats provided by the Association
of Easter Societies throughout the official route.