24 Mar Holy Week Plans in Madrid

Holy Week is coming and you still have no plans or destination to celebrate?

CoolRooms Hotels, which has hotels in historical, urban and natural environments, has designed special plans to enjoy the Holy Week from the front row!

Every year, at the end of March / beginning of April, Easter is celebrated with great emotion, indeed it is one of the most traditional festivities in Spain. One week to live an extraordinary and mesmerising experience, accompanied by the deep thud of drums and mournful wailing of trumpets.

Experience the Holy Week in Madrid from Palacio de Atocha, located just a few steps away from where the most important processions of this special week will take place. A luxury starting point to experience one of the most exciting times of the year in style. And to make it posible, CoolRooms has selected 5 activities not to be missed.

1. Discover the religious processions and experience the true atmosphere of Madrid’s Holy Week.

One of the most emblematic plan to live the Holy Week at its fullest is to see a religious procession. In the center of the city several processions will take place during the week, all will be spectacular just as in a movie scene. The processions carry images adorned with numerous candles, flowers and richly embroidered cloaks that during the rest of the year are housed in the various basilicas and churches. The procession of the Christ of Medinaceli is one of the most famous, it is celebrated on Good Friday, at night and goes through emblematic places in the center of Madrid such as Puerta del Sol, Plaza de Cibeles, Palza de las Cortes or Paseo del Prado…

To read more information about the processions, go to https://www.esmadrid.com/agenda/semanasanta-madrid.

Images.

Procesión por San Lorenzo de El Escorial

Procesiones © Corrado Baratta. Shutterstock

Trono barroco en Torrejón de Ardoz

2. Typical dishes of this time of the year and torrijas

Traditional recipes typical of the Holy Week

Embedded in the Christian tradition, Easter is a time when typical dishes are prepared, deeply linked to religious duties, but also to the tradition. It closes the Lenten period and is, therefore, the last moment of deprivation, which forces us to move away from products such as meat and consume more vegetables and fish. Cod is the main food of Easter, cooked in all its forms: in fritters, croquettes or omelettes. So don’t miss the Soldaditos de Pavia, pieces of breaded cod. Also, one of the typical dishes of Easter is the chickpea stew a la madrileña, also known as potaje de vigilia. It is a kind of chickpea stew with cod, potatoes and hard-boiled eggs. For the occasion, El Patio de Atocha reveals its special Easter Menu with these typical dishes such as cod fritters as a starter and a main dish of potaje de vigilia, for only 39 € (appetizer, starter, main dish, dessert and drink included).

Torrijas- A perfect snack during an afternoon of processions

The torrija is the most typical dessert of Holy Week in Madrid, a sweet dish made of bread soaked in milk, syrup or wine, coated with sugar, egg and fried in oil. You will find all kinds of torrijas in restaurants, taverns, bakeries and pastry shops in Madrid, as it is almost impossible not to find one to your liking. Don’t miss the special Easter offer at Patio de Atocha and El 34 Restaurant, traditional torrijas with coffee or chocolate for only 7 euros.

Images.

Torrijas © Robcartorres. Shutterstock

Buñuelos de Bacalao ©  Etorres. Shutterstock

Soldaditos de Pavía ©  Mialcas. Shutterstock

Potaje de Vigilia © Sylvie Pabion Martin. Shutterstock

3. Saetas flamencas in the middle of the street

The saetas flamencas are popular songs that resonate in the streets as the icons pass by during the Holy Week processions. On April 8 you will be able to listen to the traditional saetas, from the balcony of the Cada de la Panadería in the Plaza Mayor, by the singers Fernanda Peña, Ángeles Toledano, Diego Amador Jr. and José “El Berenjeno”. See program Saetas de Semana Santa in Madrid.

4. The Easter Crafts Fair

For lovers of handmade products, do not miss the Craft Fair during Easter. A unique meeting where you will be able to enjoy the different works of the 52 artisans from Madrid, but also from other communities, covering different specialties such as leather workers, wood carvers, toy makers, ceramists, seamstresses, costume jewelers, jewelers, paper and cardboard handlers, dry flower handlers, glassmakers and others.

The Craft Fair will be organized between Friday, March 31 and Monday, April 10 in Paseo de Recoletos, between Plaza de Cibeles and Prim Street. The opening hours for all days are usually from 11am to 3pm and from 5pm to 9pm. More information.

5. The classic tamborrada

One of the most anticipated events of Holy Week in Madrid is the classic tamborrada, declared Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO. The procession, organized by the Real e Ilustre Congregación de Nuestra Señora de la Soledad y la Impotencia, leaves from the Convento de las Carboneras (Plaza Conde de Miranda) at 11:45 am, passes through the Plaza de la Villa and Calle Mayor and heads to the Plaza Mayor to break the silence there around 1 pm, to the rhythm of drums and bugles, accompanying the image of the Resurrected Christ.