What’s On in Spain: Top things to do in March 2018

Semana Santa (Holy Week), Spain (March 25th – April 1st)

An effigy of the Christ of the “La O” brotherhood is carried during an Easter procession in Sevilla Photo: AFP

You’ve never seen the Passion of Christ celebrated quite like they do in Spain. Holy Week is one of Spain’s most authentic and elaborate celebrations, with each region of the country commemorating Easter week in it’s own way. If you’re looking for extravagant processions on the streets and colourful displays of religious fervour head to Seville for the week. If a traditional commemoration of the holiday is more up your alley, head to Castille and Leon where eight of the region’s cities have been declared sites of International Tourism for their holy week celebrations.

Parallel Visionaries Art Exhibition, University of Jaen (March 21st-24th)

Photo: Equipo Cronica “Homage to Picasso” (1967)

You don’t have to traverse Spain to see the art of Spain’s modern masters—the University of Jaen will feature a group exhibition of some of Spain’s most important artists including Pablo Picasso, Juan Antonio Guirado, Antoni Tapies, and Joan Miro. The exhibition will revolve around creation and humanity, with art as a reflection of a world ridden with conflict and social crises. It is free for students and seniors, with a regular entrance fee of €15.

The Fallas of Valencia, Valencia (March 15th-19th)

 Photo: valenciabonita.es

The people of Valencia literally light up the city to celebrate the coming of Spring every March. The celebration begins on the night of the 15th, where artists work all night to erect large monuments that will fill the streets and compete for a winning prize. Once a winner is chosen, the monuments are paraded through the city until the last day of the festival in which all of the sculptures go up in flames. This strange expression of tradition, art, and the cycle of birth and rebirth one of the world’s most impressive firework displays, held on the Night of Fire on March 18th.

Manolo Blahnik: The Art of Shoes, Madrid (Ends March 18th)

If a pair of Manolos is out of your price range, don’t worry—you can look at 212 of the designer’s most emblematic shoe designs for free until March 8th The exhibition, organized by Vogue Spain and presented at the National Museum of Decorative Arts, traces the evolution of a man who blurs the line between fashion and art, including 80 of his original drawings and a whole archive of photographs.

Festival de Jerez: Flamenco Festival (February 23^rd – March 10^th)

Dust off your flamenco shoes and get ready to channel your inner dancing girl emoji—the Festival of Jerez brings together the most famous flamenco artists of Spain to teach and participate in courses, as well stage performances. The best part? The festival encourages participation from flamenco novices with flamenco dance classes for beginners and seniors.

Auschwitz Exhibition, Madrid (Continues until June 6th)

Photo: auschwitz.net

You can still visit the Auscwitz exposition until early June where, for the first time in history, more than 600 original objects from Auschwitz-Birkenau, the Nazi’s largest and deadliest concentration camp, are displayed in a travelling exibition with its first stop in Madrid.

Microtheatre in Madrid’s La Latina, Every Sunday in March

What better way to spend Sunday afternoon than having a giggle while learning something about Spain, all in a bite-size production of less than half an hour?

Fracaso de Picasso is a surrealist sketch show in Spanish every Sunday in March at 19:00, 19:30 & 20:00 at the Esconditeatro, c/Estudios, 2 – La Latina.

Source: The Local Spain