9th
April |
Easter
Start of Easter holiday across Spain. |
14th
April |
Spain's Biggest Festivals
Spain's biggest festivals take place during April and May, starting with Holy Week (Semana Santa) which is important nationwide Festivities are especially recommended in Seville, Cordoba, Granada and Malaga. The celebration of Holy Week is the highlight of the year in Andalucia with teams of parish members carrying enormous religious floats. |
21st
April |
Week-Long Feria de Abril
Last week of April (approximately 2 weeks after Easter) Week-long feria de Abril at Sevilla: the largest fair in Spain. A Small April fair - featuring bull runing - is held in Vejer. |
22nd-24th
April |
Fiesta de Moros y Cristianos
Alicante, Valencia. Starting with the feast of the Holy Christ, in Valverde del Jucar (Cuenca) in January and ending with the "Moorish King" in August (Alicante) in December. Almost one hundred and fifty celebrations of "Moors and Christians" take place over the length and breadth of the country. As early as the 17th century, groups of Moors and Christians drove through the town accompanied by noisy bands, after which a "battle" ensues, ending with the triumph of the followers of the Cross, who surround the Moors and defeat them. |
*
April |
Procession of the Brotherhood
If you go to Seville over Semana Santa you will find thousands and thousands of people all taking part in slow moving processions that wind their way through the narrow streets of the City Centre. The processions are made up of various Brotherhoods whose origins date back 100's of years and which the members join at a very young age. Each of the Brotherhoods spends an enormous amount of time on the details of the costumes, marching route and the Effigies that must be carried by them for hours and hours as they make their way along the route. |
*
April |
Romería de Andújar
The Romería de Andújar in Andalucia, a mass pilgrimage to a shrine of the Virgin. |
*
April |
Feria de Abril, Sevilla
Shortly after Holy Week, the Seville Fair opens which is a fantastic spectacle - morning, evening and night: the height being at midday with the long cavalcade of riders, and late at night when the spirit takes over the thousand throats of the "cantaores" (flamenco singers) and the legs and arms of the "bailaoras" (dancers) with their four sevillanas - the Real de la Feria blazes with multicolored tents, wreaths and paper lanterns outlined against the sky. |