Semana Santa off to a flying start in Lorca

Twice as many foreign visitors as last year over the weekend before Easter in Lorca

Semana Santa in Lorca, where the festivities have been awarded International Tourist Interest status, has got off to a flying start this year, with visitor numbers at the information points set up increasing by as much as 50 per cent despite the far-from-perfect weather over the weekend.

And especially pleasing is the number of foreign visitors to the “City of the Sun”, helping to lead to a 100% hotel room occupancy rate

From the point of view of the politicians in the Town Hall one of the highlights was the visit of Alberto Núñez Feijóo, the leader of the opposition in the national parliament of Spain, on Friday April 11, but he presumably was not the reason for the thousands of people who gathered outside the Town Hall in the Plaza de España. Then on Sunday, despite the threat of rain, the Palm Sunday events were extremely well attended, with 180 tons of sand and gravel laid on the streets between the Óvalo and Calle Floridablanca to ensure that they are in perfect condition for the processions later in the week.

At the tourist information points an increase of 102% is reported in the number of enquiries made by non-Spaniards in comparison with the same weekend last year, accompanied by a 25 per cent rise in enquiries from Spaniards. Apparently most of the non-Spaniards were British, French or Dutch.

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