23th September 2025. – Around 200 people will take part in the special security operation coordinated by Lucena Town Council and the Agrupación de Cofradías for the Great Passion Procession (Magna), «Lucena Lives the Passion», to be held on Saturday 27th September. As part of the plan, the historic centre will be closed to vehicle traffic from 4:00 p.m., including access to the public car park in Plaza Nueva.
From the headquarters of the Local Police, the Mayor of Lucena, Aurelio Fernández, accompanied by the Councillor for Public Safety, Ángel Novillo, the Chief Inspector of the Local Police, José Pino, and the Director of the Emergency and Evacuation Plan, Manuel Roldán, presented the security plan, the preparation of which has been «in the works for months», with a clear conclusion: «Lucena is ready to host an event that will be both historic and attract huge crowds».
The special operation will be activated from the early hours of Saturday, although it will enter its main phase two hours before the first processional thrones sets off. At that point, around 36 Local Police officers, supported by 26 members of the Civil Protection Volunteer Group, will be deployed throughout the town centre, with particular attention given to the seven churches from which the brotherhoods or confraternities will begin their processions. The National Police, with several specialist operational units deployed to Lucena, together with the Fire Brigade, will also be present, with teams positioned at various points along the procession route.
Along the official procession route, between Alcaide Street and Agua Street in the area around Plaza Nueva, access control and the management of the grandstands will be carried out by 24 private security officers, with the support of more than 40 volunteers from brotherhoods or confraternities, parishes and the parish branches of Caritas. Each confraternity will follow its route accompanied by designated safety officers, who will remain in constant contact with the Operational Coordination Centre, located in the Town Hall building, where representatives of all the security and emergency services involved in the Great Passion Procession (Magna) will be based.
The medical response operation will include four ambulances and will be reinforced by around ten defibrillators positioned at strategic points along the route, together with staff trained in their use, ensuring an immediate response to any emergency. Throughout the afternoon and evening, ambulances and medical staff will be deployed to different locations in the town centre in order to remain as close as possible to areas where large crowds are expected to gather. In addition, a public assistance tent, operated by Civil Protection, will be permanently stationed in Plaza San Miguel.
Finally, the security plan includes a network of free park-and-ride car parks located at various points across the town, including those that will be opened for this event at the former municipal football ground and on Avenida de la Infancia, which the Town Council is currently completing in preparation for their opening. Private security staff will oversee the proper operation of these car parks. For buses, the fairground site has been designated as the passenger drop-off point, after which the vehicles will be directed to the car park at the Ciudad de Lucena Stadium.
All practical information –including timetables, routes, parking facilites and visitor services– is available on the official website: www.semanasantalucena.com. To report incidents, in addition to the usual emergency numbers (112 and the Local Police), the National Police recommends using the AlertCops mobile application, which enables fast and direct communication with the security services in the event of any incident.
The Mayor also called on the public to cooperate, particularly by keeping a close watch on children and following all safety instructions, so that the Great Passion Procession (Magna) can take place smoothly and present the very best image of the town, centred on a tradition that is unique in the world: the ‘santería’ of Lucena.
The Great Passion Procession (Magna) of Lucena
A total of 18 devotional images—Christs, Virgins and mystery processional thrones—from the Passion brotherhoods will take part in the Great Passion Procession (Magna), led by Mary Most Holy of Araceli, patron saint of Lucena and of the Andalusian countryside. The processional cortège will follow the chronological order of Christ’s Passion, Death and Resurrection, offering a devotional and artistic journey spanning from the 16th century to the present day. The procession will feature the distinctive sound of the drum and the ‘torralbo’, together with performances by renowned musical ensembles, including the ‘Agrupación Musical Virgen de los Reyes’, the ‘Banda de las Cigarreras’, the ‘Agrupación Musical Jesús de la Redención’, and the local ensembles SDM Banda de Música de Lucena and the ‘Agrupación Musical Stmo. Cristo de la Humillación’.
An event offering plenty of points of interest for enthusiasts
As an extraordinary event, Lucena’s Great Passion Procession (Magna) will offer unprecedented scenes in a town long accustomed to welcoming visitors seeking experiences centred on faith and devotion during Holy Week, supported by one of the most distinctive confraternity heritages in Andalusia. Without doubt, the ascent past the Clock Tower, as this approach to Plaza Nueva —the focal point of the official procession route— is known, will be one of the finest places to admire the different ‘cuadrillas’ in action. However, locations such as Llanete de San Agustín, the area around San Francisco, and Llanete de Jesús Nazareno, all outside the official route, are also expected to attract large crowds of spectators.
