Cristina Hodgson
MALAGA is left without processions during Holy Week for the second consecutive year due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The organisation that represents the city’s religious brotherhoods that organise the Semana Santa has agreed with the city hall and the Diocese of Malaga to call off the events once again in an attempt to curb the spread of COVID-19.
The news was confirmed by the Bishop of the Diocese of Malaga, Jesus Catala, and the suspension includes external acts of worship and all celebrations that make use of the public spaces.
Pre-coronavirus, some 34,400 people would take part each year in the city’s Holy Week events, its economic impact being over 80 million euros.
The decision comes after cities such as Sevilla, Alicante, Crevillente, Elche, Orihuela and Torrevieja also scrap Easter processions.
The bishop has authorised the brotherhoods and confraternities to carry out acts of worship inside their respective chapels, as long as they comply with the state and regional health regulations.
The cancellation applies to the entire diocese, that is, all the towns and villages in the province of Malaga.
Catala encourages people to celebrate Holy Week with private prayer, the brotherhoods themselves are studying an alternative Holy Week without street worship meaning the capital of the Costa del Sol will once again experience a historic Holy Week marked by silence, recollection and prayer.
