Easter Holidays on the Costa Blanca

Why Easter on the Costa Blanca?

Easter on the Costa Blanca is a world away from the unpredictable spring weather of Northern Europe. While families at home are pulling on raincoats and hoping for a dry egg hunt in the garden, the Costa Blanca is basking in temperatures of 20-24°C, with long sunny days and a landscape bursting into spring colour. The almond blossom may have finished by Easter, but the wildflowers are at their peak — hillsides dotted with poppies, lavender, and wild rosemary, and the orange groves heavy with fruit.

The sea is beginning to warm up after winter, reaching around 16-18°C by early April. That is still fresh for a proper swim, but the beaches are glorious for walking, building sandcastles, and paddling. The pre-summer calm means you get the best of the Costa Blanca without the July and August crowds — restaurants are welcoming rather than heaving, car parks have spaces, and the coastal paths feel like they belong to you.

Spring is arguably the most beautiful season on the Costa Blanca. The light is soft and golden, the air is fresh without being cold, and the entire region feels like it is waking up and stretching after a gentle winter. Gardens and parks are immaculate, the salt lakes around Torrevieja turn pink with returning flamingos, and there is an energy in the towns that comes from the Spanish excitement about Semana Santa — the most important religious and cultural celebration of the year.

Semana Santa Processions

Semana Santa — Holy Week — is Spain’s most deeply felt tradition, and the Costa Blanca celebrates it with a passion and pageantry that is unforgettable. From Palm Sunday through to Easter Sunday, towns and cities across the region hold daily processions that combine religious devotion, artistic craftsmanship, and community pride in a spectacle unlike anything in Northern Europe.

The processions are organised by cofradías— religious brotherhoods and sisterhoods, some centuries old. Members walk in solemn formation wearing long robes and pointed capirotes (the tall conical hoods), carrying candles and incense. The centrepiece of each procession is the paso— an elaborate float bearing a sculpted scene from the Passion of Christ or a revered statue of the Virgin Mary, often weighing several tonnes and carried on the shoulders of dozens of bearers. The artistry of these pasos is remarkable, with many dating back hundreds of years and considered masterpieces of religious sculpture.

Orihuela holds arguably the finest Semana Santa on the Costa Blanca, recognised by UNESCO as a festival of International Tourist Interest. Its processions wind through the medieval old town with extraordinary drama, accompanied by military bands and clouds of incense. Torrevieja’s processions are also impressive, particularly the Good Friday evening procession along the seafront. Alicanteoffers a grand urban Semana Santa with multiple cofradías and large crowds, while Elche combines its processions with the backdrop of its UNESCO-listed palm groves.

The atmosphere during the processions is unique — a mixture of reverence and celebration, solemnity and warmth. Families line the streets, children sit on parents’ shoulders, and the sound of drums and brass echoes through narrow streets. Even if you are not religious, the cultural experience is profound. The dates shift annually as Easter is a moveable feast, so check the local programme for the specific year of your visit.

Easter Activities for Families

Easter Dining

Easter brings its own delicious culinary traditions to the Costa Blanca. Torrijas— Spain’s answer to French toast — are everywhere during Semana Santa: thick slices of bread soaked in milk and egg, fried until golden, then dusted with cinnamon and sugar or drizzled with honey. Every bakery has its own version, and arguments about whose are best are a national pastime.

Mona de Pascuais the traditional Easter cake, particularly beloved in the Valencian Community. This sweet bread, decorated with hard-boiled eggs and often elaborately iced, is given by godparents to their godchildren on Easter Monday. Modern versions have evolved into spectacular chocolate sculptures, and pastelerías compete to create the most impressive displays. Hornazo— a meat-filled pie traditional in other parts of Spain — also appears on Easter tables, alongside potaje de vigilia, a chickpea and cod stew served on Good Friday when meat is traditionally avoided.

Restaurants across the Costa Blanca offer special Easter menus, particularly on Good Friday and Easter Sunday. Fresh seafood features heavily — this is the Mediterranean, after all — and rice dishes including paella and arroz a banda are always available. For families self-catering, the markets and supermarkets overflow with seasonal produce: artichokes, broad beans, strawberries, and the first cherries of the year. A visit to a local bakery for fresh torrijas and ensaimadas should be a daily ritual.