Madrid City Council will formally request the Community of Madrid to declare the city's Holy Week as a Regional Festival of Tourist Interest, three years after the Plenary of Cibeles approved the initiation of the procedures.
On Tuesday, Madrid City Council will take a key step for the Holy Week in Madrid to obtain official recognition as a Regional Festival of Tourist Interest. The proposal, driven by the Department of Culture, Tourism and Sports led by Marta Rivera de la Cruz and Almudena Maíllo, will be submitted to the relevant committee for approval and subsequent submission to the regional government.
A long journey since the Plenary of Cibeles
The initiative is not new. In February 2023, the Plenary of Madrid City Council approved a proposal from Vox —with the support of PP, Ciudadanos and the Mixed Group— to initiate the procedures for this declaration. Más Madrid and PSOE abstained, as they did not share the arguments presented by the proposing party. Now, more than three years later, the City Council is resuming the process to formally request the Community of Madrid to declare Holy Week as a Regional Festival of Tourist Interest, an essential preliminary step to aspire to national recognition.
The Vox councillor Fernando Martínez Vidal defended at that time that the Holy Week in Madrid is “a religious and cultural manifestation of special civic significance and interest.” He highlighted the revival of brotherhoods in recent decades, with the creation of brotherhoods such as the Students (1983), the Gypsies (1996), the Borriquita (2011) or the Christ of the Halberdiers, whose current image dates from 2003 and processes on Good Friday from the Royal Palace carried by the Royal Guards.
“The last decades have meant the revival of the Madrid brotherhoods,” said Martínez Vidal, who also emphasized the cultural, tourist and economic value of this celebration.
Economic and tourist impact for the city
Holy Week is not just an expression of faith. For Madrid, it represents a first-rate cultural and tourist attraction, with a direct impact on commerce, hospitality, and the hotel industry. The declaration as a Regional Festival of Tourist Interest would allow the city to promote itself as a destination during these dates, attracting national and international visitors. The residents of Madrid, especially in neighbourhoods such as Centro, Latina or Carabanchel, where the processions are more deeply rooted, would see a strengthened tradition that gains participation and devotion each year.
For the City Council, this recognition is “a very important support” for the service sector, which experiences one of its peak seasons during Holy Week. The measure also aims to equate the capital with other Spanish cities whose Holy Weeks already have similar distinctions, such as Seville, Valladolid or Málaga.
Next steps and timelines
Once the request is approved in the committee on Tuesday, the City Council will send it to the Community of Madrid, which will need to evaluate the request and, if applicable, grant the declaration. The process may take several months, but the City Council is confident that the resolution will be positive before the next Holy Week. If successful, Madrid would add a new title to its tourist and cultural offerings, with the consequent benefit for the city's image and its inhabitants.
The Holy Week in Madrid, with its processions, pasos and brotherhoods, has established itself as an unmissable event in the festive calendar. Now, it only remains for the Community to give the green light for it to shine on its own in the regional landscape.
