Madrid will open Holy Week this Sunday with the first processions through Sol, Plaza Mayor and Gran Vía

Central Madrid is transformed by the first Holy Week processions. The brotherhoods travel through emblematic streets and the city adapts its pace. The atmosphere and music mark the start of a key week for local tradition.

The beginning of Holy Week can already be felt in the heart of Madrid. This Sunday, the first processions have brought tradition and faith back to the most emblematic streets in the centre, setting the city’s pace and altering the routine of residents and visitors. The sun is out and the cultural programme adapts: those walking around La Almudena Cathedral, Plaza Mayor or Puerta del Sol encounter a different atmosphere, with chairs set out and a constant flow of brotherhood members and onlookers.

Holy Week Madrid 2026 (29 Mar, Palm Sunday): first processions confirm the programme. 15:15 La Borriquita (Almudena → Gran Vía/San Ildefonso): Virgen Llanos Albacete, Anunciación Alcalá Henares. Silencio (Atocha → Sol/Plaza Mayor). 17:30 Estudiantes (San Miguel → Austrias/Pontejos; welcomed by Gran Poder). Usual traffic closures (Sol/Mayor/Gran Vía). Sunday 29 Mar. 28 processions in total until Resurrection, 5 Apr.

The day begins at La Almudena Cathedral, where the La Borriquita brotherhood opens the proceedings with a representation of Jesus’s triumphant entry into Jerusalem. Carlos Malarría, the brotherhood’s elder brother, recalls how last year the Virgin’s departure coincided with a change in the weather, and this year the anticipation is repeated. The route passes through key points such as Gran Vía and the church of San Ildefonso y Santos Niños Justo y Pastor in Malasaña, while the public crowds onto the pavements and some even stop their cars so as not to miss the moment.

This year, music takes centre stage: the Virgen de los Llanos cornet and drum band from Albacete accompanies Nuestro Padre Jesús del Amor, and the Alcalá de Henares symphonic band joins the float of María Santísima de la Anunciación. The atmosphere fills with sounds that reinforce the emotion of the procession and set the pace for the costaleros.

Shortly afterwards, the Silencio brotherhood begins its penitential procession from the church of Santísimo Cristo de la Fe on Atocha Street. Although its name invites contemplation, music remains present as the image of bound and scourged Christ passes through such recognisable places as Plaza Mayor, Puerta del Sol and the streets of Madrid de las Letras, before returning to its starting point.

The afternoon advances and, from 17:30, the Estudiantes brotherhood takes over from the Pontifical Basilica of San Miguel. Nearly two hundred nazarenos accompany Santísimo Cristo de la Fe y del Perdón and María Santísima Inmaculada Madre de la Iglesia through Madrid de los Austrias. The Banda de la Lira from Pozuelo de Alarcón sets the pace behind the Virgin, and the most eagerly awaited moment comes at dusk, when the sculptures reach Pontejos and the Collegiate Church of San Isidro, where the Gran Poder y Macarena brotherhood welcomes the procession.

Holy Week in Madrid not only transforms the urban landscape, but also changes mobility and everyday life in the centre. The processions require traffic closures and diversions, but they also invite people to rediscover historic corners in a different light. La Almudena Cathedral, the epicentre of many of these celebrations, has become a meeting point for worshippers and the curious, and its surroundings become these days a setting where tradition and city intertwine. Madrid is already beginning to move in that direction.

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