Easter in Spain on Independence of the Seas

[guineapig]

I have tried posting this on both ports of call and the cruise line we will be travelling with to see if I can get any answers.

We will be travelling down to the Canary Islands in the Easter holidays-as below

Thurs 05-Apr

Las Palmas, Gran Canaria

Fri 06-Apr

Tenerife, Canary Islands-Good Friday

Sat 07-Apr

Funchal (Madeira), Portugal

Sun 08-Apr

Cruising -Easter Sunday

Mon 09-Apr

La Coruña, Spain-Easter Monday

Tues 10-Apr

Cruising

 

 

Does anyone know how the Easter holidays effect visiting religious sites or any other sites for that matter?

Will churches/cathedrals be open as normal?

Will ships tours be running-locals on holiday?

If you want to travel independantly could bus, taxis or trains be affected?

Look forward to hearing from anyone whos travelled in Easter-are there any other things to be aware of?

[CatBelle]

I am from Spain I can help you:

 

Does anyone know how the Easter holidays effect visiting religious sites or any other sites for that matter? Maybe yes, for example the Cathedrals are celebrating the mass and other events, but you can join anyway or visit the site

 

Will churches/cathedrals be open as normal? Yes of course, or even for longer time, the problem about Europe is that you have to pay to visit some famous Cathedrals.

Will ships tours be running-locals on holiday? I am not sure if I understand the question.

If you want to travel independantly could bus, taxis or trains be affected? It depends on the place, in some cities buses are less frequent than usual in bank holidays but in touristic places I think you won't have any problem, unless you use it during the night, but this won't affect you.

Look forward to hearing from anyone whos travelled in Easter-are there any other things to be aware of? Yeah, if you visit these places in Easter you will luckily see the local habits and celebration in Easter, Easter is a famous holiday in Spain and Portugal and you can enjoy the events and the food, for example in Spain you can try "torrijas" is a typical Easter sweet, really good!!

 

If you have any other question don't hesitate to ask.

[CRUIS4ME]

You are clever to ask ahead of time....we flew into Madrid on a Wednesday ...only to find out that the Easter weekend includes Thursday night through the following Monday. Everything seemed to shut down. Good luck with your planning.

[pilarkitty]

I'm curious if they do the semana santa processions in the canary islands. It was quite an experience to see when I studied abroad in Sevilla.

 

You may get a very unique treat!