This year’s proclamation of Adeje’s Holy Week will be delivered by writer Christian Gálvez, who will also present his new novel. The event will take place on Saturday, 21 March at 7:00 pm in the Church of Santa Úrsula.
Programme Highlights
Adeje Town Hall, in collaboration with the parishes of the municipality, has once again organised a Holy Week programme that aims to position the town as a reference point in the island’s religious and cultural calendar. The programme began on 9 March with the IV Vía Crucis del Pueblo and will continue from 21 March with the lecture series «Historia, ciencia y misterios del cristianismo» (History, science and mysteries of Christianity), several thematic exhibitions and the staging of «La Pasión de Adeje» (The Passion of Adeje), scheduled for Friday, 3 April.
This year’s Holy Week proclamation will be delivered by the writer and communicator Christian Gálvez, who will also present his new novel «He vencido al mundo. La traición de un amigo. El conflicto de una madre. La fe de un centurión». The event, in Spanish, will take place on Saturday, 21 March at 7:00 pm in the Santa Úrsula Church.
Adeje’s mayor, José Miguel Rodríguez Fraga, stated that «over the years, thanks to the people who work to make our Holy Week possible, Adeje has managed to consolidate this gathering not only as a religious event but also as a social one. It builds community, strengthens the unity of our towns and creates shared spaces where we can reflect on our beliefs and spirituality.»
Cultural Activities
The cultural programme will mainly take place between 21 and 26 March, with the II Lecture Series «Historia, ciencia y misterios del cristianismo», curated by José Gregorio González Gutiérrez. The talks will be held at the Espacio de Historia y Arte «El Barranco», which will also host two exhibitions, one on Marian apparitions and another on the faces of Jesus. In addition, the Adeje convent will host an exhibition of Holy Week processional statues with explanatory panels for each one. The cultural programme will also include a sacred music concert at the Parish of San José in Los Olivos on 14 March.
Main Celebrations
Adeje’s Holy Week will reach its main period between 28 March and 5 April, beginning with the Palm Sunday celebrations and including the Triduum of Our Lady of the Incarnation, the Santo Encuentro, the Mandato, the Santo Entierro, the Procession of Silence, the Easter Vigil and the Easter masses. A highlight will be the Good Friday street theatre performance of «La Pasión» on 3 April, which will begin with a procession followed by the theatrical staging in Calle Grande, and will also be broadcast on television and digital platforms.
This year, following the solemn Easter mass on Sunday, 5 April at 11:00 am, the programme will include the procession of the new statue of Our Lord Jesus Risen. The life-size statue, carved in royal cedar wood and finished with oil polychromy, is the work of the sculptor and religious statue maker José Antonio Cabello from Córdoba, and will become part of the municipality’s collection of religious statues. The procession will be accompanied by the Adeje Patronal Band and will follow a route from the Church of Santa Úrsula to the Plaza de la Cruz del Llano and back to the parish.
Some of this year’s processions will follow modified routes due to improvement and renovation works currently being carried out on Avenida Constitución. The organisation recommends checking the municipal website to confirm times and routes at www.adeje.es. The programme will conclude with the Rogation procession and the closing of the lustral year on 19 April, from the Santa Úrsula Church to the Church of San Sebastián.
A Heritage of Religious Statues
Adeje’s Holy Week, documented since 1561, has gradually built an important heritage of religious statues over the centuries, which today represents one of its main historical and artistic values.
Among the most notable works is La Piedad in the Parish of Santa Úrsula, created by the Sevillian sculptor Juan Ventura and incorporated in the first decade of the 21st century. In Tijoco La Hoya stands La Dolorosa, a work by the Tenerife sculptor Ezequiel de León dating from the 1980s.
The Cristo de la Buena Muerte, from the Belloso workshops, leads the Vía Crucis on Palm Saturday. On Palm Sunday, the Cristo de la Burrita, a work by Juan Abascal, processes through the town centre, while in Los Olivos the statue of the Oración del Señor en el Huerto, a late 19th-century carving from the Levantine school, takes part in the procession.
On Holy Monday, the highlights are Nuestro Padre Señor Cautivo and Nuestra Señora de la Esperanza, both from the Sevillian workshop of Álvarez Duarte, together with the Cristo de las Penas, created by the Córdoba sculptor Francisco Romero Zafra and incorporated in 2017. The Santo Encuentro on Holy Tuesday features the Cristo Nazareno, also by Juan Ventura.
On Holy Wednesday, the Cristo de la Humildad y la Paciencia is in procession through the streets. This 18th-century statue has iconography originating in Flanders and is attributed to an American workshop. On Holy Thursday, during the Mandato procession, a crucified Christ dated 1665 stands out, carved in barbuzano wood and attributed to Francisco Alonso de la Raya. It is accompanied by a Saint John from the 19th-century Madrid school and the Señor de la Cena, a work by Juan Abascal.
On Good Friday, the Cristo Yacente from the Belloso workshops, restored by José Luis de León, is the central figure in the Santo Entierro procession. It is accompanied by Mary Magdalene, attributed to the Canarian school, and the Santos Varones, created by Juan Ventura. The day concludes with the procession of the Virgen de los Dolores, also made by Juan Abascal. [Ayto. Adeje]
