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Author: Rafael Peña

Utrera's Holy Week is one of the most important religious and festive events in the city. During the seven days of Passion Week, a total of 13 brotherhoods pass through the beautiful streets and squares in an official procession located in Plaza del Altozano.  The religious and artistic legacy of Utrera's brotherhoods, some of which were founded between the 16th and 18th centuries, can be appreciated in the processions. The image shows Our Lady of the Angels in her Solitude as she passes along Calle San Fernando on the afternoon of Palm Sunday, a work sculpted in the 20th century. She is preceded in the procession by a sculptural group from the Quinta Angustia, linked to the 18th century Granada School. In Utrera, it is traditional to welcome the images of Our Lady with a shower of petals as they pass through the streets of the town.

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Author: Caminos de Pasión Office

In the early morning hours of Good Friday the 'Madrugá gitana' takes place, in which the gypsies of Utrera sing to their titular figures: the Santísimo Cristo de la Buena Muerte, a work from the first half of the 17th century. This work belongs to the circle of Francisco de Ocampo, and Nuestra Señora de la Esperanza, a sad statue from 1952 sculpted two decades later by Luis Álvarez Duarte. Its penitential procession in the early hours of Holy Friday morning. This is one of the highlights of Holy Week in Utrera, due to the festive atmosphere of singing and applause with which the gypsies celebrate the departure of the allegorical religious litters from the Church of Santiago El Mayor, a Gothic temple dating from the late 13th century. This brotherhood also stands out for its charitable work and for organising the Potaje Gitano de Utrera, the oldest flamenco festival in the world that takes place in June.

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Author: Pablo Anaya

The Very Old Brotherhood and Archconfraternity of the Nazarenes of Santo Veracruz is the oldest in the Holy Week in Utrera, dating from 1546. Among its titular figures are the Santo Entierro del Santísimo Cristo Yacente y Nuestra Señora de los Dolores y en Soledad, made by Antonio Castillo Lastrucci in 1923, which is carried in procession. They invocate the Virgen de los Dolores y as Soledad on Holy Saturday, when we could see her in strict mourning under a black dossel, one of the jewels of Holy Week in Utrera.  When the procession arrives at the Santiago Parish Church, the members of the Council of Brotherhoods and the authorities gather in order to accompany the mourning procession along the official route until its gathering at the Church of San Francisco.

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Author: Pablo Anaya

The only existing brotherhood in Utrera is the illustrious Brotherhood of Nuestro Padre Jesús Atado a la Columna, María Santísima de la Paz and San Pedro Príncipe de los Apóstoles, known as Hermandad de los Aceituneros. It was founded in the 1950s, a time when the olive sector was the main industry in Utrera. The penitential procession happens every Holy Wednesday from the parish church of Santa Maria de la Mesa, a 15th century Gothic temple. The image shows Jesus tied to a column, attributed to Benito de Hita y Castillo and dated 1759.