The beginning of Holy Week has been marred by rain, which has prevented several Brotherhoods from carrying out their penance season in the main cities of the region. After several weeks of spring weather, the weather predictions have not failed: unstable weather during Semana Grande.
The rainfall this morning and the threat of it being repeated this afternoon have forced the first tough decisions in Seville. Two of the two of the nine brotherhoods that go out in procession on Holy Monday in Seville, El Polígono de San Pablo and Santa Genoveva, decided that they would not go out, while the Brotherhoods that procession early this afternoon through the capital of Seville, San Gonzalo and La Rendición have announced that they are delaying their departure for an hour, hoping that heaven will give them a respite.
These are not good days for devotees of the steps. Yesterday the rains also drowned out the fervor in some parts of the region. Seville, as a reference for Holy Week, suffered several cancellations and the situation could persist for the next few hours.
The delegate of the State Meteorological Agency (Aemet) in Andalusia, Juan de Dios del Pino, explained that after a Palm Sunday marked by rain in practically the entire region, this Monday the rainfall will be continuous and not very intense in Western Andalusia until approximately 5:00 p.m., when a cold front will enter and remain until dawn, reducing the probability of rain. For this Monday afternoon, the yellow warning for waves is activated in the west, east and the capital of Almería, as well as in the Strait and the coast of Cádiz.
For Holy Tuesday and Wednesday, Aemet expects periods of rainfall to alternate, with clearings predominating, but without ruling out scattered and occasional showers in the eight provinces. Starting on Holy Thursday, fronts of improvement are observed, although they will not put an end to the instability of the weather.
Looking ahead to Tuesday, risks due to coastal phenomena, wind and snowfall will remain active in all Andalusian provinces except Córdoba and Seville, while on Holy Wednesday the wind and wave warnings will affect Almería, Cádiz, Granada and Málaga.
Regarding temperatures, Del Pino has detailed that the daytime temperatures will be three or four degrees below the average for this time, around 16-18 degrees, while the minimum temperatures will maintain normal values for this time of year.
The adverse weather due to the rain expected for this Holy Week could affect the expected tourist occupancy of around 80% by about five or six percentage points, although for now no significant cancellations have been detected, according to the Minister of Tourism, Arturo Bernal.
Bernal has indicated that businessmen's concern is focused more on last-minute reservations, which are those that could be affected by this weather situation. In any case, it has minimized the impact by about five or six percentage points on the expected tourist occupancy and has highlighted that Andalusia's tourism offer offers many alternatives to reorient tourists towards visits to museums, temples and natural spaces in case of suspension of processions due to rain.
Last year, Andalusian Holy Week counted one million tourists, 15% more than in 2022, and they moved around 400 million euros.
