18th September 2025. – Lucena Town Council and the Agrupación de Cofradías are making the final preparations for the Great Passion Procession (‘Procesión Magna Pasionista) «Lucena Lives the Passion», which will take place on 27th September to coincide with World Tourism Day. This unprecedented event for the town is expected to attract thousands of visitors, showcasing Lucena’s rich cultural and historical heritage, its distinctive ‘santería’, and benefiting from extensive media coverage.
Lucena’s Mayor, Aurelio Fernández, appeared alongside the Councillor for Tourism, Francisco Barbancho, and the President of the Agrupación de Cofradías, Antonio Díaz, to highlight the significance of this event as a historic milestone for the town and its tourism profile: «It is a unique opportunity to strengthen the bid for our Holy Week to be granted National Tourist Interest status and to showcase Lucena as a town fully prepared to host major events».
Francisco Barbancho, for his part, stressed that this Magna Procession «offers an opportunity to present to the world one of Lucena’s most distinctive and authentic traditions, our Holy Week, with its rich anthropological, cultural and identity heritage». Antonio Díaz, meanwhile, emphasised that this event has been organised within the framework of the 2025 Jubilee Year and brings together the town’s seventeen Passion brotherhoods, «an unprecedented occasion that highlights Lucena’s Santería, recently declared an Asset of Cultural Interest».
The Great Passion Procession of Lucena
A total of 18 devotional images—Christs, Virgins and mystery processional thrones—from the Passion brotherhoods will take part in the Magna Procession, led by Mary Most Holy of Araceli, Patroness 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’.
In the days leading up to the event, the town will also witness the processional transfers of Our Lady of Solitude (21th September), Our Lady of Araceli (21th September), Jesus of the Valley (23th September), and Jesus of Humility (date to be confirmed).
Media coverage
The Official Processional Route will be broadcast live by Videoluc Televisión, Canal Cofrade and Canal Sur Radio’s ‘Paso a paso’ programme, with special extended coverage. In addition, Cadena SER Lucena and Videoluc Televisión will provide dedicated programming throughout the preceding week, complemented by extensive coverage from local media outlets (‘Lucena Hoy’, ‘Paseíllo’, and ‘Glamour Lucena’) as well as by provincial, regional and national media. Provincial, regional and national media, together with blogs and social media profiles specialising in the brotherhood tradition, will also provide coverage of the event. «This is an unprecedented level of media exposure that will allow our Holy Week to reach those who are unable to experience it in person», the Mayor of Lucena remarked.
Tourist information materials
With the sponsorship of Gestoría Aras, 5,000 tourist leaflets have been produced, featuring the timetable of processional routes, a map of the Official Processional Route, a list of the participating devotional images, historical notes, and practical information accessible via QR codes linking to the official website, www.semanasantalucena.com. These leaflets will be available from Thursday 25th September at the Foundation of the Ciudades Medias (Castle of El Moral) and at the Tourism Office (Palace of the Counts of Santa Ana).
