Alex Trelinski
SEMANA SANTA(Holy Week) starts in Alicante on Sunday with 25 processions in the city over eight days.
The ceremonies last year were classified as being of National Tourist Interest.
It will be also the first year since 2019 without any kind of pandemic restrictions.
The Easter commemoration includes Wednesday’s Procession of Santa Cruz, which, starts at 7pm from the district of the same name located on the slope of Mount Benacantil.
A statue of Jesus Christ is taken by bearers through the narrow streets of Alicante’s Old Town down to the city centre.
It then does the reverse uphill journey back to the Santa Cruz chapel.
On Thursday night, as a prelude to Good Friday- the day of the Crucifixion- the Procession of Silence takes place with two central and invaluable works being carried.
They are the Christ of the Good Death sculpted in the 17th century by Nicolas de Bussi and Francisco Salzillo’s Our Lady of Sorrows dating back to the 18th century.
As they are carried, a solemn atmosphere will ensue with accompanying music and an aroma of incense and flowers.
Other notable processions are on Tuesday and Good Friday morning with a succession of passion figures carried through the city’s Esplanade.
That will also be the setting for the Easter Day procession of the Virgen de la Alegria next to the statue of the Risen Christ
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