Easter in Majorca is a huge religious event that has a lot of tradition behind. Since the multitudinary assitance in each procession, to Easter Sunday’s typical lunch with the entire family, these weeks are filled with celebrations.
But before talking about Easter in Majorca, let’s talk about the origins of this festivity. The Holy Weeks represents the beginnings of the Christian Religion and conmemorates the Pasion, Death and Ressurrection of Jesus of Natharet.
The dates of this celebration usually change because this holiday follows the lunar calendar (it’s always in March or April). The Holiday starts on Palm Sunday and ends up on Easter Sunday.
It’s needed to be said that, the Saturday before Easter Sunday, in the town of Lloseta a perfomance of the Via Crucis is made. It’s a living representation (with real people that plays different roles) that goes from birth to death of Jesus. The whole town gets involved and in each corner of Lloseta a scene is being performed with the whole decoration. We highly recommend you to go visit it!
During Easter in Mallorca it’s a tradition that many different “cofradías” (grup of people that adores a Christ or a Virgin Mary) go out on a procession with traditional dresses. They’re called “caraputxes” in Mallorca and their dresses usually include a tunic with the colors of its confraternity and kind of a triangular cup on their heads which is called “capirote or tercerol”.
Said that, Easter in Mallorca goes like this:
- Palm Sunday. It’s the day when the big entrance of Jesus in Jerusalem is commemorated. On this day, all town in Majorca celebrate it by blessing Palms or Olive Branchs. In front of the church there’s the priest and people goes by while he’s blessing their palms with holy water. After that, those palms are being put in the house’s exteriors to guarantee the house will be protected all year long.
- Holy Monday. On Holy Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday you’ll be able to enjoy different processions all around Majorca, but specially in Palma.
- Holy Tuesday.
- Holy Wednesday.
- Maundy Thursday. Easter major processions begin. This day the Last Dinner of Jesus Christ with his disciples is being celebrated, such as his death in the cross. In all towns there are silent silent and respectful processions where public and confraternities acompain Jesus to the cross.
- Good Friday. Good Friday is also a very special day in the Christian tradition cause this day the Descendent from the Cross is being celebrated. One of the most popular towns where it’s performed is in Pollensa. All the Pollentians and visitors get reunited in Es Calvari’s stairs, a long stair with 365 steps that represent each day of the year (one per day) and that also represents Christ’s Passion. Here, Jesus Descendent from the cross is being celebrated along with Roman soldiers, the Three Marys and other biblical characters.
- Holy Saturday. This is a mourning day and there’re not religious celebrations.
- Easter day. This day is the most important day in the Christian Religion. This day Jesus ressurrection is celebrated and it’s a tradition in all the countries, at first hour in the morning, to celebrate “El Encuentro” (the union of Jesus and Mary after Jesus death). Two figures, one of Christ and another of the Virgin Mary, are reunited. Along with the priest, the music band and the whole town, this reunion is celebrated and officialy Easter Day begins. In some town such as Alaró, it’s typical that after “El Encuentro” people go to church and have something to eat after. At 12 p.m aprox. they get together with their families and have lunch, which is usually “frit mallorquí” (potatoes, vegetables and meat with some herbs all fried). At 3 p.m the party begins and everyone goes to the pubs til’ night. Another option is to eat “porcella” (roasted pork with potatoes) with the family and make the lunch last til’ being tired.
What to do after Easter in Majorca
Once Easter in Mallorca is over, in Mallorca there are still some holidays. We call them “pancaritats” and these are days where the whole town goes to the closest mountain where there’s usually a church and have lunch there. This lasts until “Angel’s Sunday” next Sunday.
Looking for a Holiday House in Mallorca to celebrate Easter?
If you’ve liked this brief explanation about Easter in Majorca and you’d like to celebrate it her, we’d love to share these days with you. You can check all the Holiday Homes here. ¡Looking forward to see you!
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