Laurence Dollimore
SEMANA Santa has been cancelled in Sevilla.
The decision has been made by the Junta de Andalucía following the state of alarm declared by Spain yesterday.
The huge event will be an emotional and economic loss for the regional capital.
The week long Easter celebration usually contributes some €400 million to the economy.
“There are sufficiently justified public health reasons to suspend the processional parades on the public thoroughfare of the brotherhoods of Sevilla in Easter 2020,” a city council statement read.
“It is our obligation and that of all citizens to cooperate in the achievement of the objectives that our country has set itself on this issue.”
Semana Santa was last cancelled in Sevilla in 1933 due to a lack of security following government instability.
Even during the Civil War, Sevilla was not without its Holy Week.
