The 5 processions not to be missed during the Valencia Maritime Holy Week 2024
The Poblados Marítimos are filled with the most solemn festival, but with very special touches
Valencia is getting ready to experience a festival that is considered to be of National Tourist Interest. The celebration of Easter Week takes place all over Spain, but it is in the Poblados Marítimos del Cap i casal where the festivities have a unique aroma and touch: Mediterranean and seafaring. The festival fights against all the elements to carve out a niche for itself among the most popular Easter celebrations. Far away are the processions of Seville, Malaga and the rest of Andalusia; the sobriety of Holy Week in Castile and Leon or the particularities that can be found in any procession during these days. The Semana Santa Marinera officially begins on 22 March and concludes with its street festivities on 4 April. This is a festival that is certainly unknown to a large part of the Valencian population, making it a jewel to be discovered in any of its unique moments.
The Semana Santa Marinera forms part of the group of celebrations that fill the neighbourhoods of Valencia with festivities and devotion throughout the year. Obviously its magnitude is not comparable to that of the Fallas, but it is a good example of this celebration that, in its desire to become big and well-known, has never ceased to have that unique aroma that characterises it. There will not be a brotherhood, sisterhood or corporation that will process through the Poblados Marítimos with a large number of members, but rather the total of all the Christian groups that make the neighbourhoods of the seafront vibrate for 20 days.
How many days does the Semana Santa Marinera last?
The Semana Santa Marinera 2024 officially begins on Friday 22nd March, Friday of Sorrows. This is when processions, transfers and other religious events will begin to take place in the streets of Cabanyal, Grau and Canyamelar. In most of Spain the processions end on Easter Sunday, but in the streets of Valencia the Holy Week processions are extended until Easter Thursday, April 4th, as the titular images walk the streets for the last time to experience their transfers from the homes of the brotherhoods to the corresponding parish.
How many brotherhoods are there in the Semana Santa Marinera?
In the Holy Week of Seville there are a total of 70 brotherhoods that carry out the well-known Penitence Station to the Cathedral; in Malaga the figure is 43, while in Avila there are 'only' 14 associations that take part in the brotherhood festivities. Between the Andalusian and Avila cases, we find the Semana Santa Marinera in Valencia, which according to the Junta Mayor itself has a total of 31 associations between brotherhoods, brotherhoods and corporations. In some cases we are talking about groups of around 50 brothers and sisters. A feat to make this unique festival possible.
How many processions are there in the Semana Santa Marinera: Is there a Penitential Station and Official Procession in Valencia?
On 22 March, Friday of Sorrows, the first processions begin and until 4 April we will be able to see the carvings in the seaside neighbourhoods of the city of Valencia. According to the programme of events for Valencia's Semana Santa Marina 2024, in Grau, Cabanyal and Canyamelar there are more than 60 processions and transfers in almost two weeks. To this figure should be added the Via Crucis and minor events that brotherhoods, confraternities and corporations celebrate both in their respective parishes and in the streets nearby.
Unlike other Spanish festivities, the Semana Santa Marinera does not include the concepts of Estación de Penitencia and Carrera Oficial. In the first case, this is due to the fact that the participating associations start and finish in their parish, and process through the streets closest to the neighbourhood, while the closest thing to the Carrera Oficial in Valencia is the route of the Santo Entierro and the Desfile de Resurrección, which follow the same itinerary for all the brotherhoods, confraternities and corporations.
The essential processions of Easter Week in Seville
The best advice for enjoying the Semana Santa Marinera in Valencia would be to consult the programme of events and open yourself up to enjoying the processions that fill every corner of this part of the capital with worship and homage. It is difficult to single out five of them, but they represent the idiosyncrasy of this Valencian festival, celebrations whose uniqueness makes it a unique Easter Week in Spain.
The first important procession takes place this Friday, when the Virgen Dolorosa is carried in procession; on the 24th of March, the transfer of the Santísimo Cáliz and the Santísimo Cristo del Salvador y del Amparo takes place, a perfect option to experience one of the many transfers between the parish churches and the houses that take place during these days. On Easter Monday, the Poblados Marítimos are filled with fervour with the procession of the Cristo de los Afligidos (Christ of the Afflicted). Obviously, this recommendation cannot miss the two events in which all the brotherhoods, brotherhoods and corporations of the Semana Santa Marinera of Valencia take part: the General Procession of the Holy Burial, which takes place on Friday 29 March, and the Resurrection Parade, a unique parade on 31 March.
