Easter bonnets, Easter bunnies, Easter chicks, daffodils, Easter eggs, Easter Mass, Easter processions ..... Take your pick!
Different countries / cultures have different Easter traditions, although there is a lot of cross-over nowadays.
Let's take a look at the UK and Spain.
[Amazon UK]
The UK
In my home country, the UK, the ladies wear Easter bonnets; children receive Easter bunnies, Easter chicks and Easter eggs (all chocolate); daffodils are an important feature in many homes and in other venues; and people go to church or Mass.
[Wikipedia] [Rainy Day Mum]
[Natasha's Kitchen] [M&S]
Public holidays are on Good Friday and Easter Monday, giving a four-day break for many families.
Spain
In Spain it's all about the Semana Santa processions, although the kids get eggs, etc. The procesiones start on Palm Sunday (or in some places the day before) and continue until Easter Sunday a week later.
The processions are prepared throughout the preceding year by cofradias or brotherhoods attached to different churches. They have either one or two tronos, magnificent tableaux of scenes from the Bible featuring Christ and his Apostles and the Virgin Mary.
These scenes are mounted on a structure which is carried by horquilleros on their shoulders. The rhythmic movement is controlled by the band and the capirote.
The whole thing is accompanied by nazareños, penitents wearing a matching costume and pointy hat (reminiscent of the Klu Klux Clan in the USA, but in no way connected). In some parades the nazareños go barefoot.
[YouTube] [Diario Ronda] [El Periodico]
Each procession has a different prescribed route from the "home" of the trono/s around the town and back to its base. The whole thing can last several hours.
In Spain public holidays are Holy Thursday and Good Friday. Easter Monday is a normal working day.
Links:
Easter in Spain (let's have a party!) - Lenox Napier
Semana Santa in Spain: Dates and traditions to experience in 2026 - EOS News
© The Culture Vulture
Photos:
Amazon UK. Diario Ronda, El Periodico, M&S, Natasha's Kitchen, Paul Whitelock, Rainy Day Mum, Ronda Semanal, The Culture Vulture, Wikipedia, YouTube
Thanks:
Paul Whitelock, Ronda Semanal, The Culture Vulture
Tags:
Amazon UK, Apostles, brotherhood, capirote, Christ, cofradia, Diario Ronda, Easter Sunday, El Periodico, EOS News, Holy Thursday, horquillero, Lenox Napier, M&S, Natasha's Kitchen, nazareño, Palm Sunday, processions, Rainy Day Mum, Semana Santa, trono, Virgin Mary, Wikipedia, YouTube,