The Camino During Semana Santa

Semana Santa - Pamplona

SEMANA SANTA: Holy Week 2020 in Spain will begin on Sunday, April 5 and will end on Sunday, April 12. What does this mean for the Pilgrim? This means in almost every large city, the albergues, hostels, and hotels are going to be FULL because the parades are spectacular and people will be flying from all countries to see them. This means in the smaller village, the albergues, hostels and hotels are going to be FULL because children and grandchildren will be going to their home parishes to celebrate with their families. I suggest you book the entire week, including the weekend BEFORE Semana Santa begins.


Semana Santa commemorates the last week of the life of Jesus Christ, his crucifixion on GOOD FRIDAY, and his resurrection on EASTER SUNDAY. Processions will be spectacular and you will see many people wearing the nazareno, or penitential robe. This robe and capriote (pointed hood) are of medieval origin. People wearing the robes and hoods will often be carrying candles and walking barefoot. At times, they will have shackles and chains on their feet. These hooded penitents will lift and carry the heavy floats, called thrones or tronos, through the streets. Behind them often are women dressed in black and carrying candles, singing saetas, traditional songs of mourning, dedicated to the pasos (carved wooden sculptures) on the float. The pasos represent different scenes in the last days of Christ.


PALM SUNDAY is the kick-off for Semana Santa. This is the day that Jesus rode into Jerusalem. There may be processions and people waving braided palms.

HOLY MONDAY is next, with possibly more processions than on Sunday.

HOLY TUESDAY and HOLY WEDNESDAY are pretty quiet, but you'll feel the energy building.

MAUNDY THURSDAY will find a lot people celebrating in the streets, and many processions.

GOOD FRIDAY, businesses will be closed and there will be at least one procession carried out in silence, mourning the crucifixion and death of Jesus Christ.

HOLY SATURDAY. In some villages this will be important. In others, not so much.

SUNDAY OF RESURRECTION is a day to celebrate, spend time with family, and attend processions.

EASTER MONDAY is a national holiday so businesses will be closed as people rest from the week's celebrations.

Camino 2020 - Finishing up the Via de la Plata.

VDLP 2009

I've been walking the Via de la Plata in stages. 

2009 - no water!

In 2009, Joe and I walked for 8 days on the Via de la Plata. Against more experienced pilgrims' advice, we walked in the hot summer. We were shocked to find fountains dry and as Rebekah of Moratinos warned, the heat "falling like a curtain at 2 pm."  At one point, we were helped by some fireman, who brought us drinking water.  It was just too difficult of a trek for us that year in that heat. We left the route in Fuente de Cantos and jumped up to the Camino Frances for the rest of our time.

Via de la Plata 2013 SPRING!

In 2013, I returned to the Via de la Plata to walk alone.  I walked in mid-May - a much saner decision.  It was an incredibly beautiful walk! The wildflowers were stunning and there were few pilgrims on the trail. I got to spend a few hours at the Thermal Baths in Aljucin. They had a special price for pilgrims.  Wonderful!

That year, I got as far as Cáceres before having to jump up to Pamplona to pick up my walking group. That year, I found it difficult to find lodging at a certain point, because railroad workers were filling up the albergues. 

Next spring, Joe and I have decided we will complete the route in March/April 2020. I was lucky enough to get round trip tickets from LAX to Madrid for only $450.  We will fly into Madrid, take a bus or train to Zafra, and begin walking there, re-walking sections I have walked but Joe has missed. We will walk from March 4 until April 14, spending the last few days in Segovia for Semana Santa!

Albergue de San Francisco, Zafra

The VDLP cuts off toward Santiago above Zamora.  However, we will take the route to Astorga instead of to Santiago. It's easier to catch a bus or train back to Madrid from Astorga in the time we have.

We plan on spending most of Semana Santa in Segovia. We have seen Semana Santa in Seville, Granada, and other parts of southern Spain. We have also seen it in Madrid. It will be exciting to spend it in beautiful Segovia!

Our tentative schedule looks like this, including kilometers between villages.  (pardon the spacing, I copied this from my Excel file):


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5-Mar	Thu	Arrive Madrid
		Train or Bus to Zafra
7-Mar	Sat	Villafranca de los Barros	20
8-Mar	Sun	Taxi to Almendralejo, Walk to Torremejia	14
9-Mar	Mon	Merida	16.5
10-Mar	Tue	Merida
11-Mar	Wed	Aljucin	17
		Thermal Baths
12-Mar	Thu	Alcuescar	22
13-Mar	Fri	Aldea de Cano	15.4
14-Mar	Sat	Caceres	23
15-Mar	Sun	Caceres
16-Mar	Mon	Cacer de Caceres	11.4
17-Mar	Tue	Embalsa 664.26.27.42	23
18-Mar	Wed	Grimaldo	20
19-Mar	Thu	San Gil	21
20-Mar	Fri	Carcabosa	14
21-Mar	Sat	Caparra / Jarilla	20
22-Mar	Sun	Aldenueva del Camino	19.5
23-Mar	Mon	Calzada de Béjar	26
24-Mar	Tue	Fuenterroble	21
25-Mar	Wed	San Pedro de Rosados	28.6
26-Mar	Thu	Salamanca	25
27-Mar	Fri
28-Mar	Sat	Urb. El Chinneral	22.6
29-Mar	Sun	El Cubo de la Tierra del Vino	15
30-Mar	Mon	Villanueva de  Campeon	13.5
31-Mar	Tue	Zamora	19
1-Apr	Wed	Fontanillas de Castro	25
2-Apr	Thur	Granja de Moreruela	12.5
3-Apr	Fri	Benavente	25.5
4-Apr	Sat	Alija del Infantado	22
5-Apr	Sun	La Baneza	20.5
6-Apr	Mon	Villares de Orbiga or Astorga	24.5
7-Apr	Tue	Astorga
8-Apr	Wed	Segovia
9-Apr	Thur	Segovia
10-Apr	Fri	Segovia
11-Apr	Sat	Segovia
12-Apr	Sun	Madrid
13-Apr	Mon	Madrid
14-Apr		FLY HOME

I'm excited!
I bought a new pack yesterday. No pack transport that I know of on the VDLP, so I'll be carrying as little weight as I can manage. 

Stay tuned to see my packing list.

Buen Camino,
Annie
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