Easter in Mallorca: processions and what closes

The dates this year

Easter Sunday falls on 5 April in 2026. In the Balearic Islands three days around it are public holidays: Holy Thursday, 2 April, Good Friday, 3 April, and Easter Monday, 6 April. Good Friday is a holiday across Spain, while Holy Thursday and Easter Monday are set by the Balearic government. Together with the weekend that makes a five-day break.

Palma: processions through the old town

Palma’s brotherhoods process through the old town on several evenings of Holy Week, carrying floats with religious images, with members in robes and pointed hoods and bands playing slow marches. Two nights stand out.

• Holy Thursday: the procession of the Sant Crist de la Sang, documented since 1554, leaves the church of the Sang beside Plaça de l’Hospital and winds through the old town. More than 30 brotherhoods and thousands of members take part, and it can run into the early hours.
• Good Friday: the Sant Enterrament, the procession of the holy burial, starts in the early evening from Plaça de Sant Francesc, in front of the basilica of Sant Francesc in the old town.

If you live in or near the old town, expect closed streets, crowds and parking restrictions on these evenings. Find a spot on a wide street such as La Rambla or near the cathedral early.

Pollença and the Davallament

On Good Friday many Mallorcan towns hold a Davallament, the taking down of Christ from the cross. The figure is unnailed and carried in procession to the church, usually in silence. The best known is in Pollença. After nightfall the figure is brought down from the chapel at the top of the Calvari and carried down its 365 stone steps by torchlight, with the town’s brotherhoods walking alongside. The tradition there is said to go back to 1650.

Sineu, Artà, Felanitx and Son Servera also stage a Davallament. In smaller towns the ceremony is quieter and more local, which many visitors prefer. Easter Sunday is the joyful end of the week, when processions celebrate Jesus meeting his mother.

Panades, robiols and the Sunday after

Easter is the season for panades, small savoury pies filled with lamb or pork, and robiols, half-moon pastries filled with jam, cream, soft cheese or chocolate and dusted with icing sugar. Families bake and share them at home and on outings to sanctuaries and hermitages.

The Sunday after Easter is Palma’s Diumenge de l’Àngel, a popular outing to the woods around Bellver Castle with music, dancing and stalls selling Easter pastries. This year it falls on 12 April. On Easter Monday and the days after, many villages hold a pancaritat, a country outing to a local hermitage or sanctuary with music, folk dancing and food.

What closes

On the three public holidays, expect banks, public offices, notaries, land registries and most small shops to be closed. Holy Thursday is the easiest of the three for shopping: in 2026 some large stores and shopping centres in Palma planned to open that day, but to close on Good Friday and Easter Monday. Some supermarkets, especially in resorts and tourist areas, open with shorter hours.

• Do your shopping by Wednesday 1 April, and check opening times locally.
• Buses and trains run on holiday timetables, with fewer services.
• Restaurants in towns and resorts are generally open, and often busy, so book for Easter Sunday lunch.
• Easter is a busy week for visitors too, so book flights, hire cars and accommodation early.

If you are viewing property over Easter

Easter can be a good week to see the island waking up for the season, and a procession is a useful glimpse of town life. But very little paperwork moves. Notaries and registries are closed for the holidays, many agents and lawyers take time off, and town halls shut. Plan any signing for the week after, and use the holiday days for unhurried viewings and walks around the areas on your list. Our guide to the buying process explains which steps need a notary.

Areas in this post

Palma · Pollença town · Sineu · Artà town · La Lonja & Born