Semana Santa 2027: City Guide and Booking Dates

1. The 2027 calendar, day by day

The liturgical calendar sets the dates: Palm Sunday falls on 21 March, Easter Sunday on the 28th. Public holidays vary by region, though. Andalusia and Castilla y León take Holy Thursday and Good Friday off (Andalusian decree 84/2026, Castilian decree 7/2026), which stretches the weekend for many travellers.

The times quoted come from the 2025 or 2026 programmes: they give the running order, not the 2027 times.

If you’re travelling from the UK, the bank holidays help. Good Friday (26 March) and Easter Monday (29 March) are both bank holidays in England and Wales. Take Thursday 25 March off as annual leave and you get five days in a row, from Thursday to Monday, with Seville’s Madrugá in the middle.

2. Seville: the Madrugá and the highest density of brotherhoods

Seville

Madrugá: night of 25 to 26 March 2027 Hotel rates among the highest in 2025 March 2026: 15.6 °C average Peak: Holy Thursday to Easter Sunday

Seville has 71 cofradías (penitential brotherhoods) and around 50,000 nazarenos, according to Spain.info. The Carrera Oficial starts on calle Campana, crosses the Plaza de San Francisco and ends at the cathedral. Every brotherhood has to pass through it, then makes its way back to its church by another route. The saetas, sung a cappella from the balconies in honour of the images, mark the most intense moments.

Highlights

• The Madrugá, the peak of the week, and it’s felt in the street.
• Daytime and night-time processions, from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday.
• Seated places on the Carrera Oficial, sold through the Consejo de Hermandades y Cofradías de Sevilla.

Pixidia tip: for the cathedral, the Alcázar and the Giralda, aim for the morning. Holy Week 2026 timetables on third-party sites contradict each other, and the 2027 ones aren’t out yet, so check the official site before you book. For experiences to fill the gaps between processions, read our Semana Santa 2027 guide to Seville.

Free time between two processions is a good moment for a guided walking tour. This one passes the Plaza de San Francisco, on the Carrera Oficial’s route, then the cathedral, the Alcázar, the Santa Cruz quarter and calle Sierpes. It’s a way to connect the monuments to the brotherhoods’ routes without depending on a procession timetable.

Private Half Day Walking Tour of Seville €100 to €120 per adult (based on 2 adults) · ★ 5.0 (105 reviews)

See availability

3. Málaga: the Viernes Santo from La Malagueta

Málaga

Viernes Santo: Descendimiento from La Malagueta 2026 occupancy: 92.3% on key days Direct AVE restored on 30 April 2026 Lágrimas y Favores on Palm Sunday

Málaga builds its Semana Santa around its brotherhoods and their thrones. According to the 2026 programme reported in the local press, the Sagrado Descendimiento left La Malagueta late on Good Friday afternoon, and the Lágrimas y Favores procession opened the week on Palm Sunday from San Juan Bautista. Treat these as a guide to the structure: the 2027 programme hasn’t been published.

Highlights

• The Descendimiento on Good Friday, when the crowd gathers around La Malagueta.
• High occupancy: 92.3% on key days across the province, against 87.1% for all of Andalusia (Junta de Andalucía, 2026).
• A direct AVE high-speed link from Madrid to Málaga, restored on 30 April 2026 after several delays.

Pixidia tip: the return of the direct AVE doesn’t guarantee anything for late March 2027. Check the line’s status and timetables on renfe.com a few weeks before you travel. Between February and April 2026, a coach between Antequera and Málaga had to stand in for the train.

4. Granada: the Albaicín night and the silence of Holy Thursday

Granada

Holy Thursday: 25 March 2027 32 brotherhoods and 34 cortejos Alhambra: timed entry required Seville: 3 to 5 hours by bus

In Granada, Semana Santa is mostly lived at night. On Holy Thursday, the brotherhoods come down from the Albaicín towards the Plaza Nueva through narrow lanes, and the Virgins of the Albaicín cross the Carrera del Darro with the Alhambra lit up above them. The Cristo de la Misericordia comes out at midnight as a cross of marquetry, in silence, with the public lighting switched off along the Carrera del Darro (tourist guide Granada Direct). The third-party guide that gives 25 March 2027 also lists a one-off timing: treat it as indicative until the brotherhoods publish their own.

Highlights

• The Albaicín processions on Holy Thursday, through steep lanes.
• The silence of the Cristo de la Misericordia at midnight, in a street without public lighting.
• A week set by 32 brotherhoods and 34 cortejos of nazarenos (local council figures, cited by Wikipedia).

Pixidia tip: the Palacios nazaríes of the Alhambra are visited on timed slots. They’re sold online and often sell out during Holy Week. Prices and times vary between sources, so confirm them on alhambra-patronato.es before you plan your day. Our comparison of private and group Alhambra visits will help you pick the format. Plan to walk too: the Albaicín is steep and traffic is limited there.

5. Valladolid: a dense week and a general procession on Good Friday

Valladolid

More than forty processions Good Friday: 7:30 pm (2026 programme) International Tourist Interest since 1981 Valladolid to Zamora: about 1 h 30 by regional train

Valladolid plays the dense-week card: more than forty processions, carried by around twenty brotherhoods (Festivales de España). The 2026 programme, reported in the press, puts the big events on Holy Thursday and Good Friday. The highlight remains the general procession of the Holy Passion on Good Friday, which leaves at 7:30 pm and passes through the Angustias, the Fuente Dorada, the Plaza Mayor and the paseo Zorrilla. On Holy Thursday, the Silence procession sets off at 11 pm. These times date from 2026, so use them as a guide.

Highlights

• A general procession on Good Friday, one of the high points of the week (Lonely Planet).
• Processions across several days, Holy Thursday included, in the historic centre.
• A city on a human scale, about an hour and a half from Zamora by regional train, according to journey planners.

Pixidia tip: we found no 2026 hotel figures for Valladolid, and the Junta’s survey doesn’t cover the city. Don’t read availability into that gap. Pressure looks lower than in the two Andalusian cities, but nothing confirms it. We couldn’t verify the tourist tax either, so check it before you book.

6. Zamora: the restraint of Holy Wednesday and the Silence

Zamora

17 brotherhoods (city’s official site) Holy Wednesday: 24 March 2027 International Tourist Interest since 1986 Holy Wednesday: Juramento del Silencio (2025 programme)

Zamora is the most restrained of the five cities. It claims the oldest Holy Week celebrations in Spain, a claim the city makes itself, so it’s worth attributing it as such. On Holy Wednesday, the Juramento del Silencio opens the afternoon: according to the 2025 programme, silence is offered to the city before the Christ, and three horsemen lead the procession. At night, the Capas Pardas process in a sober procession. On Good Friday at 5 am, the procession of Jesús Nazareno Vulgo Congregación hands out garrapiñadas (candied almonds), and sopas de ajo (garlic soup) go with the early morning.

Highlights

• The Juramento del Silencio on Holy Wednesday, then the Cristo de las Injurias from the Plaza de la Catedral (2025 programme).
• The dawn processions on Good Friday, with their early-morning traditions.
• A city that works well as a day trip from Valladolid.

Pixidia tip: the 2025 timings are only an indication. The 2027 programme isn’t published, and brotherhoods usually announce their timings the winter before. We found no 2026 occupancy data for the city.

7. Hotels: what the data says, city by city

The figures below aren’t comparable with each other. The 2026 occupancy rates describe whole provinces, not hotels, and the 2025 rates are sector averages. No city has published 2027 rates yet.

In 2025, the median rate went above €200 a night in the big Semana Santa destinations, with Barcelona at €254 and Madrid at €245, according to the Simon-Kucher study cited by Hosteltur. The oldest figure giving a nightly rate dates from 2017. The Trivago study, cited by Bolsamanía, put Seville at €224 a night on average, and Málaga at €248 on Good Friday, with only 4% availability that day. Those older numbers give you an order of magnitude, not a 2027 price.

8. Combining the cities: three possible routes

Trains are back on the main lines, but the high-speed network is still under speed restrictions: around 2,250 km were affected in April 2026, after the Adamuz accident in January 2026. We found no more recent information. Check each journey against your travel date.

Seville and Granada: the most requested combination

The Alsa bus links the two cities in 3 to 5 hours depending on the service, with 12 departures a day, from €12 depending on the operator. The train goes via Antequera: the AVE from Granada to Antequera takes about 50 minutes, but the trip from Antequera to Seville varies between 2 h 15 and nearly 5 h depending on the journey planner. Note too that Granada’s night processions and the Madrugá in Seville fall on the same night, that of 25 to 26 March, so you’ll have to choose your night. Our five-day Andalusia itinerary covers this loop in detail.

Seville and Málaga

The two cities are fairly close, but the sources we checked don’t give a reliable journey time for the rail link. One option: Seville for the Madrugá, then Málaga on Good Friday for the Descendimiento from La Malagueta (2026 programme). The journey that day needs checking carefully.

Valladolid and Zamora: the Castilian tradition

The trip is short, around an hour and a half by regional train according to journey planners, although the data contradicts itself. Valladolid for the general procession on Good Friday, Zamora for Holy Wednesday and the Juramento del Silencio. Madrid has train links to each of these cities, so it can serve as a common base if your trip is longer than two days.

9. When to book: flights, hotels, trains and tickets

Flights

Price comparison sites don’t agree on a single lead time. Kayak puts the lowest price about nine weeks before departure, a 2016 Liligo study about three months before, and a 2017 Liligo study places the best period between October and January. For a departure on 20 March 2027, that gives a window from mid-December 2026 to mid-January 2027. Today’s fares don’t tell you what March will cost.

Hotels

For the nights of 25 and 26 March in Seville, a sensible target is to book before 31 December 2026. Málaga follows the same logic. For Valladolid and Zamora, the available data shows no comparable pressure: booking in January or February 2027 is still a reasonable option, once you’ve checked availability.

Trains

No official sales date has been confirmed, and the sources we checked disagree on this. Check when your journey opens for booking on renfe.com as soon as it’s on sale. Promotional fares, like the Avlo tickets from €7 or the AVE from €15 launched in January 2026, don’t set the standard price.

Attraction tickets

Alhambra slots are booked online as soon as sales open. Seated places on the Carrera Oficial go through the Consejo de Hermandades y Cofradías de Sevilla, whose 2027 prices aren’t published yet. For Seville Cathedral, a morning slot booked in advance is still the safest choice.

Action calendar

10. Weather and surprises

In March 2026, AEMET recorded averages of 15.6 °C in Seville, 14.3 °C in Málaga and 11.6 °C in Granada. These figures describe a month, not a week: no usable forecast exists six months out. A procession can be cancelled or shortened if it rains, so check the brotherhoods’ social media and the AEMET forecast the week before.

One last point, which also affects neighbourhood life: in Seville, the regulation of holiday rentals in the Casco Antiguo and in Triana is a live debate. Keep the noise down in streets where people are observing the processions, especially during the night ones.