Holy Week and Easter celebrations in Spain have some of the country's deepest traditional roots, and every region carries them out differently. The residents of Abama, our luxury resort in Tenerife, can enjoy this traditional celebration every year, with much fervor, through a number of different religious processions and traditional activities that make it special. It’s one of the great tourism attractions during this period and a perfect excuse to visit the island.
Here are three places you can see some of the most representative celebrations of Holy Week on Tenerife:
The Daybreak, or Seven Words, Procession and the Grand Procession, must-sees in San Cristóbal de la Laguna
San Cristóbal de la Laguna is located some 100 km from our luxury resort, but it won’t take you more than an hour by car, and it’s well worth the effort if you want to experience one of the most moving events you can see at this time of the year. There, the last days of Jesus Christ are commemorated with the most solemn of processions.
Throughout the early morning of Good Friday, various processions and brotherhoods act out the search by the Virgin Mary for her Son, and the latter’s pronouncement of his last seven words before dying. This is the so-called Daybreak Procession or the Procession of the Seven Words. The Santísimo Cristo de La Laguna, an icon in the gothic style dating from the XV century, an important symbol of the city, is borne through the streets of the centre and venerated by the Tenerifans.
Another interesting part of these Easter celebrations in Spain is the Grand Procession (Procesión Magna), which takes place on Friday afternoon and likewise fills the streets of La Laguna with participants and brotherhoods.
In the Orotava processions, art and Faith take center stage
A bit closer, in La Orotava, some 60 km from our luxury resort, where influences from Castille and Andalusia intermingle, Holy Week stands out for its unique character that makes it one of the most particular celebrations on the island. The city’s broad, rich culture is paraded through the streets: first-class visual artwork from Canary Islanders and foreigners like Luján Pérez, Fernando Estévez and Pedro Roldán mixes with textiles, embroidery and incredible pieces of jewelry that make this holiday one of the most important of the year in terms of its historical, religious, anthropological and cultural value.
The brotherhoods and fraternities, many hundreds of years old, memberships in which are passed down from father to son, are responsible for the organization of the majority of the processions, as well as for the custody and conservation of the cultural objects that they possess. The backdrop against which they occur gives additional aesthetic value to these processions, as does the music played by bands with its marked and characteristic pace. All together, it makes Holy Week in La Orotava one of the oldest, most important, and most popular in all the Canary Islands.
The Via Crucis of Adeje, the emotion of the people
Finally, in Adeje, just 20 km from your luxury residence at Abama, you can enjoy one of the most emotional performances of the last days of the Life and the Passion of Jesus Christ that you have ever witnessed. It takes place throughout the streets of the town throughout the day of Good Friday, and in recent years it has become highly visible through its retransmission by various international television channels.
It begins at twelve noon when the residents of the town, who are the actors, appear in a perfect line on Grand Street before the thousands of people who have come to Adeje so as not to miss this solemn event integrating popular tradition and religion that has become one of the chief attractions to the archipelago during Holy Week.
Besides the processions and these acts we’ve mentioned, during the days of Holy Week all the houses of worship remain open and recreate the last movements of Christ before the crucifixion. It’s an occasion for the faithful to visit these churches, pray The Rosary and light candles.
They’re also days in which you can enjoy a different type of gastronomy: meat disappears from the dishes on offer and fish takes center stage. The desserts, too, like torrijas, pestiños and buñuelos are the true protagonists here and those that give a sweet finish to the Easter days.
At Abama we know that learning about and living the traditions that make our island so special is also one of the reasons that our residents chose our luxury resort in Tenerife. Take advantage of these Easter celebrations in Spain to enjoy an experience without compare. And dive into the many other Tenerife destinations as well!
