Holy Week in Benalmadena 2024

Holy Week in Benalmadena 2024 will be celebrated in the traditional way, with several processions and religious events both during the Holy Week itself and in preparation, during lent. Besides the Benalmadena Town Hall, there are four religious Hermandades or Cofradías (Brotherhoods) leading the events of Holy Week in Benalmadena in 2024. They each have different calendars, events and religious themes, and therefore, the different events superposed may seem a bit confusing for the outsider onlooker. Come with me through the Holy Week program, as we try to understand the different celebrations!

You can find here the original program published by Benalmadena’s Town Hall, several pages of which are in this post. We’ll translate the program to English and explain a bit of the events going on, in italic. I have opted for following a chronological order, while parts of the original program keep it separated by brotherhood, so that it is easier to find out what is going on each day. To avoid leaving information out, I informed what Brotherhood is promoting each event.

Related Post:
Holy Week and Easter in the Costa del Sol

The Brotherhoods

The four Brotherhoods participating in Benalmadena’s Holy Week are:
– Hermandad del Nazareno (Nazarene’s Brotherhood)
– Cofradía del Cautivo (Captive Brotherhood)
– Cofradía de la Redención (Redemption Brotherhood)
– Cofradía del Coronado de Espinas (Thorns Crowned Brotherhood)

As you can see, they are all Christian, but focus on different parts of Christ’s life. The processions and events that each Brotherhood promotes tend to highlight these corresponding different moments, making Holy Week … whole! Also worth of note is that the Brotherhoods are all related to one of the main two Catholic Churches in Benalmadena. Nazarene’s and Captive Brotherhoods are related to the Church of Santo Domingo de Guzmán, in Benalmadena Pueblo; Redemption and Thorns Crowned Brotherhoods are close to the Church of Inmaculada Concepción, in Arroyo de la Miel.

Above: Church of Inmaculada Concepción, in Arroyo de la Miel; below: Church of Santo Domingo de Guzmán, in Benalmadena Pueblo.

Lent Acts

February

February 17

Nazarene’s Brotherhood
Presentation of the official Poster of the Holy Week in Benalmadena 2024
Poster Artist: José Antonio Jimnez Muñoz
This is the cover of the program, the first image in this post.

February 18

Thorns Crowned Brotherhood
Kiss-foot Thorns Crowned Christ
Church of Inmaculada Concepción
7:00 pm

February 24

Redemption Brotherhood
Presentation of the Brotherhood’s poster of the Holy Week
Church of Inmaculada Concepción
Poster Artist: Quique Postigo

March 1 – 10

March 1-3

Captive Brotherhood
Three days in honor of Captive Jesus “Medinaceli”. Medinaceli is a city in Spain
Church of Santo Domingo de Guzmán
7:00 pm on March 1 and 2, and at noon on March 3

Captive Brotherhood
Presentation of the Brotherhood’s poster of the Holy Week and Exaltation of Holy Tuesday 2024
Exaltation by Don Andrés Bueno Gómez
Poster Artist: José Domingo Durán Ropero
Church of Santo Domingo de Guzmán
9:00 pm

March 8 – 10

Nazarene’s Brotherhood
Three days in honor of Holy Mary of Tears (March 8 to March 10)

March 9

Nazarene’s Brotherhood
Official Holy Week Via Crucis Benalmádena

March 10

Thorns Crowned Brotherhood
Presentation of the Brotherhood’s poster of the Holy Week
Calle Oropéndola, San Juan Bautista Chapel
6:30 pm

March 16 – 23

March 16

Nazarene’s Brotherhood
Opening celebration (Pregón)
Speaker: Don Aarón Benzaquen Vera (Priest of the Parish of Santo Domingo de Guzmán, in Benalmadena Pueblo)

March 16 – 22

Nazarene’s Brotherhood
Seven days of devotion in honor to Holy Mary of Sorrows (March 16 to March 22)

March 22

Nazarene’s Brotherhood
Transfer of Jesús Nazareno and Holy Mary of Sorrows
Route: Church of Santo Domingo de Guzmán, Jardines del Muro, thrones hall
Due to the small area covered, I believe this will not be a procession per se; more like transferring the sacred images to the departing point of the main procession, during Holy Week.

Holy Week in Benalmadena 2024

Holy Week in Benalmadena 2024 will be filled with processions through the streets of both Arroyo de la Miel and Benalmadena Pueblo. If you are staying in Benalmadena Costa, you may not even notice it! If you want to join or see some of the events, head to one of these two locations.

This year’s program includes the routes of some of the processions that will happen; I included them here, too, under the respective days.

Palm Sunday, March 24 – Arroyo

1) Cofradia de la Redención (Redemption Brotherhood)
Jesus’ entrance in Jerusalem and Holy Mary of Help Procession
through the streets of Arroyo de la Miel, with music bands
Departure: 11:30 am from the Redemption Brotherhood house in Calle Parra

Route: Calle Parra, Calle Limonero, Calle Naranjo, Calle Orión*, Avenida de la Estación, Calle Vicente Aleixandre, Calle San Juan, Avenida de la Constitución*, Calle Nacimiento, Calle Naranjo, Calle Limonero*, Calle Parra (Brotherhood house).
*Highlighted points of the Procession
It is the blue route in the image.

2) Cofradía del Coronado de Espinas (Thorns Crowned Brotherhood)
Our Lord Jesus Christ with a Thorned Crown and Our Lady Holy Mary Procession
through the streets of Arroyo de la Miel, with music bands
Departure: 06:30 pm from the shed in Calle Velarde (according to the program. The image shows a starting point near Calle Lope de Vega, that then goes to Calle Velarde).

Route: Calle Velarde (shed)*, Calle Manuel Gambero, Calle las Flores, Avenida de la Constitución*, Avenida de la Estación, Plaza Pueblosol, Calle Pepa Guerra Valdenebro*.
*Highlighted points of the Procession
It is the green route in the image.

Holy Monday, March 25 – Pueblo

Cofradía del Cautivo (Captive Brotherhood)
Floral offering “A carnation to the captive”
10:00 am in the Plaza de las 3 culturas

Holy Tuesday, March 26 – Pueblo

Cofradía del Cautivo (Captive Brotherhood)
Angelus Pray in front of the images of our Lord Jesus Captive and Holy Mary of Hope
Noon, in the Thrones Hall (Calle San Miguel)

Holy Thursday, March 28 – Arroyo

Cofradía de la Redención (Redemption Brotherhood)
Guard and transfer of the Holy Christ of the Redemption by the Brotherhood of former legionary knights
Start of the guard: 10:00 am
Departure: 12:00 (noon), from the Brotherhood House, with a music band

Route: Brotherhood house, Calle Parra, Calle Limonero, Calle Cipres, Calle San Juan, Avenida de la Constitución, Plaza de la Iglesia*, Avenida de la Estación, Calle Vicente Aleixandre, Calle Nacimiento, Calle Naranjo*, Brotherhood house.
It is a similar route to the blue (Palm Sunday route), but a bit shorter.

A few images of this procession, which was postponed and happened on the evening of March 29 (click to expand):

Holy Thursday, March 28 – Pueblo

March 28 and 29: El Paso – Parque Retamar

Every year, the Passion of Christ is represented in Benalmadena’s Retamar Rustic Park, in Benalmadena Pueblo, very close to the Stupa. More than 100 locals take part in this representation, which is quite unique both for the amount of people involved and for the location, an open-air theater / park. See more about this very intriguing location – and how to get there! – on our post about the area of the Butterfly Park and Stupa. 😉

In 2024, El Paso was set have two presentations: on March 28 and 29, both at 11:00 am, but because there was a rain forecast, it was postponed to April 6 and 7.

Related post:
Butterfly Park and Stupa of enlightenment – bonus: Retamar Park and Lourdes Cave

Holy Friday, March 29 – Arroyo

A few images of the Procession of Redemption Christ and Holy Mary of Pains (click to expand):

Holy Friday, March 29 – Pueblo

2) Hermandad del Nazareno (Nazarene’s Brotherhood)
Procession of Holy Mary of the sorrows in her loneliness
with uncapped drums
Departure: Midnight from March 29 to 30.

Route: Church of Santo Domingo de Guzmán, Jardines del Muro, Calle Santo Domingo de Guzmán*, Plaza de España, Calle Maestro García Álvarez, Calle Lomillas, Calle Álamos, Calle Real (authorities stage)*, Avenida Juan Luis Peralta, Calle Maestra Ayala, Calle Marbella, Plaza de España (hail)*, Calle Santo Domingo de Guzmán, Jardines del Muro, Thrones Hall
*Highlighted points of the Procession
It is the same purple route as in the previous procession.

Easter Sunday, March 31 – Pueblo

Conclusion

March will have plenty of religious parades and events in Benalmadena, both in Arroyo de la Miel and in the Pueblo. If you are interested in seeing one (or more, or all) you know where and when to go; if you wanted to skip it completely, you also could, just by staying on the coastal area of the town or even at home in the other areas.

If I had to pick just a few events this Holy Week in Benalmadena 2024, I’d go see one of the processions and the El Paso in Retamar – this last one a unique and local production. Good thing we don’t have to pick just a few! Also, check our post about March; while the Holy Week program holds exclusively religious events, Benalmadena and the other towns the Costa del Sol will have events for all tastes.

It turns out that there has been a lot of rain this 2024 in the Costa del Sol during Holy Week. Some of the processions went out even in the rain, others got delayed and others got cancelled. That’s because the thrones, some of which were carved a hundred years ago, are delicate pieces of art, invaluable for the brotherhoods and could get damaged under the rain. Turns out that, when it is rainy, there is no way to know with much antecedence which processions are happening or not; as a rule, if the forecast shows rain, it is better to check on the Ayuntamiento’s page or social media if the event will proceed.