Easter in Madrid: How to Celebrate Holy Week in Spain’s Capital
Second only to Christmas, Easter in Madrid is a huge event that envelops the city for a week every year. From bakery windows stacked with torrijas to streets packed with people following the Holy Week processions, Madrid is a fantastic place to celebrate the Easter holidays!
Photo by Esteban Palacios Blanco on Unsplash
Here is everything you need to know to navigate Madrid’s Holy Week festivities.
Madrid Holy Week 2025: April 13 - 20th
Semana Santa, aka Holy Week, kicks off in 2025 on April 13th with Palm Sunday. The first religious processions of the holiday weave through the city center followed by throngs of worshipers holding palm fronds. After they are blessed at the Palm Sunday Mass, you’ll see these palm fronds decorating balconies throughout the city for the rest of the week.
Here in Spain, the Easter public holidays are always the Thursday and Friday prior to Easter Sunday. With a four-day weekend, many Madrileños flee the city during Easter! While Madrid is still very busy during Holy Week, it is nothing compared to cities that are famous for their Holy Week processions like Sevilla or Málaga.
For those of us who stay in the city over Semana Santa, the city is bursting with drum lines, religious processions and spectacular sweets!
What to do in Madrid over Easter
Experience a Holy Week Procession
Holy Week processions are the iconic image of Easter in Spain. “Cofradias” aka church groups practice all year long carrying the extremely heavy “pasos” aka floats featuring a statue of Jesus or the Virgin Mary. The floats can weigh up to 3 tons! They are carried on the shoulders of anywhere from dozens to hundreds of “costaleros”, men and women who train all year to maneuver these incredibly elaborate floats through the narrow streets of Madrid’s historic city center.
Ornate floats like this are the highlight of Madrid’s Easter celebrations!
The processions all have set routes and start times but can last for many hours. The floats are flanked by “nazarenos” dressed in the traditional tunic and conical hat that covers their head and face. This traditional religious outfit was copied by the Klu Klux Klan but here in Spain dates back to the Middle Ages.
Most of Madrid’s Easter processions take place in the historic city center in and around Plaza Mayor. Many are accompanied by drum lines or marching bands. Thousands of spectators often line the streets of the procession route! For a full list of the processions with maps of their routes, here is a link to the Madrid Tourism Board’s page for all the Semana Santa activities and (most importantly!) the map of the processions.
Eat a Torrija
It wouldn’t be Easter in Madrid with a special pastry to mark the holiday! Torrijas are Madrid’s quintessential Easter treat. Think of a torrija as extra-delicious French toast. They are made by soaking thick slices of Brioche-style bread in milk that has been infused with cinnamon, orange peel and vanilla. The soaked bread is then passed through a beaten egg and fried until the outside is golden and slightly crispy. The inside is almost creamy. Most bakeries and restaurants then top the torrija with orange-infused simple syrup to make it nice and sweet. No wonder it is one of our favorite Spanish desserts!
Torrijas are the classic Easter dessert in Madrid! They are made a bit like French Toast, with brioche bread soaked in milk then fried.
But of course not all torrijas are created equal! Here are our picks for the bakeries making the best torrijas in Madrid:
Casa de las Torrijas
This century-old tavern definitely doesn’t fit under the category of “bakery” but it does serve some of the best torrijas in Madrid! If you want to pair your Easter treat with a glass of wine instead of a coffee, this is the place to go. While Casa de las Torrijas does serve the more popular milk-drenched torrija, the specialty here are traditional wine-soaked torrijas!
El Riojano
First opened in 1855, El Riojano is a bakery fit for a queen! Literally! The pastry chef to Queen Maria Cristina first opened El Riojano more than a century ago to bring the pastries that were served in the palace to the people. If you want to taste a classic torrija in a gorgeous setting, El Riojano is hard to beat.
Moulin Chocolat
For a modern take on the classic torrija, look no further than Moulin Chocolat. The pastry chef here was named the Best Pastry Chef in Madrid in 2023! Instead of frying their torrijas as tradition dictates, they bake them. Call us crazy, but are baked torrijas the future?!
Discover Easter Foods on a Market Food tour
Sharing a big meal is an important part of many Spanish families’ Easter celebrations. This means the traditional markets are bursting with celebratory foods for the whole of Holy Week! Be sure to head into one of Madrid’s many municipal markets to stock up on travel snacks and see the incredible fresh foods on offer.
No celebration is complete in Spain without Iberian ham! Join us on our Neighborhood Market and Food Tour to see the traditional market bustling with Easter shoppers.
If you want to experience Madrid markets like a local, join us on our De Mercados: Neighborhood Market and Food Tour! Throughout the morning you’ll taste your way through one of Madrid’s most bustling neighborhood food markets. Learn about what’s in season from Jorge, our third-generation green grocer. Talk to Ignacio the Fishmonger about the freshest fish to eat during Lent. Meet Gemma, the market’s best ham slicer, and taste the flavor of celebration that is black-hoof Iberian ham!
On this daytime food tour you’ll also visit Plaza San Ildefonso and, if we are lucky, you’ll get to see the San Ildefonso church’s incredible procession float as well!
What’s Open in Madrid over Easter
Most of Madrid stays open throughout Holy Week. Traditional markets are closed on the public holidays on the Thursday and Friday prior to Easter Sunday. Some small shops will also close for the public holidays, but all of the major brands (Zara, Mango, Corte Inglés) will be open every day.
The biggest closures over Easter in Madrid are the streets! Many streets in the city center will be blocked off for the processions. For the biggest processions on Holy Thursday and Holy Friday, police often put up fences on either side of the street where the procession will take place making it impossible to cross the street. Processions move very slowly so streets like Calle Mayor can often be closed for many hours.
Over Easter in Madrid many of the streets in the city center will be closed for the processions. Walking is the best way to get around and see these incredible events!
Madrid taxi drivers should know how to avoid the historic center over Easter week so you don’t get stuck in a procession. Be careful, though, with apps like Uber or Cabify as their algorithms might not know when and where the processions will be. If you are stuck in a taxi behind a procession, it is usually best to just get out and walk or to take the metro!
If you’re planning to spend Easter in Madrid this year, we’d love to help you celebrate with the best tapas in Madrid. Join us on our De Tapas in Malasaña: Evening Wine and Tapas Tour or get in touch for more information about our private family tours!