Semana Santa in San Javier
San Javier and Santiago de la Ribera boast two of the few Easter Week processions held every year in the Mar Menor area
The processions which are held during Easter Week in almost all of Spain are something of a rarity in the area around the Mar Menor, and perhaps because of the scarcity of such events the two which are held every year in San Javier are a major visitor attraction which has become rightly renowned in the Region of Murcia and among Semana Santa visitors from all over Spain and northern Europe.
The Maundy Thursday procession in San Javier itself and the one in Santiago de la Ribera on Good Friday are relatively recent traditions, but they have quickly become established as one of the main events in the annual calendar of the municipality and indeed the whole of the Mar Menor area.
The first group or brotherhood to reinstate Semana Santa processions in San Javier was the Cofradía de la Santísima Soledad del Mar Menor, with the Friday event in Santiago de la Ribera, where the two most historic houses of the town, the Casa Barnuevo and the Casa Conde de Campillo are included on the route along with the AGA air force officer training academy.
In San Javier, the procession of Maundy Thursday has been reinstated after an absence of almost 100 years, and the silence of the event is broken only by the sound of “saeta” hymns and other music as the streetlights are dimmed and the Nazarenos make their wat by the light of lanterns. Every year large crowds gathered to see the figures of Nuestro Padre Jesús Nazareno, La Dolorosa and the el Santísimo Cristo de las Ánimas (the oldest of those kept in the parish church, dating from the 16th century) proceed through the streets as they further strengthen this added Semana Santa boost to the already strong Easter tourist trade in the municipality!
For more local information visit the tourist offices of San Javier or go to the home page of San Javier Today.
