Semana Santa in Seville (Holy Week)

No. Watching from the street is free everywhere along the routes. Paid chairs exist only on the Carrera Oficial, and they are rented by the season, mostly to local families who renew them year after year, so visitors rarely get one.

Each brotherhood publishes a timetable with its departure time, route and return, and the Consejo de Hermandades y Cofradías collects them into the official programme. Printed guides are sold at newsstands before Palm Sunday, and several free apps show the live position of each paso. Times are reliable to within a few minutes, which helps when you need to cross the old town.

They are nazarenos, members of the brotherhood walking in penance, and the tall hood is the capirote. The colour of the tunic and hood varies by brotherhood. The costume dates back centuries in Spain and has nothing to do with the Ku Klux Klan, a common confusion among first-time visitors.

The Madrugá brings out the best-known images: Jesús del Gran Poder, the Esperanza Macarena and the Esperanza de Triana. Earlier in the week, La Paz on Palm Sunday and El Cachorro crossing the Triana bridge on Good Friday afternoon draw big crowds. Expect the densest crowds wherever these pass.

A saeta is a short unaccompanied song, close to flamenco, sung from a balcony or the street to an image as it stops. The paso halts, the band falls silent and the singer improvises a verse of devotion. It is spontaneous and cannot be predicted, though some balconies on well-known corners have regular singers.

Torrijas, bread soaked in milk or wine, fried and coated in honey or sugar, are sold in every bakery and convent. Many bars serve espinacas con garbanzos and salt cod dishes, a reminder of Lenten abstinence from meat. Bars along the routes stay open late, but expect to stand.

The cathedral changes its tourist hours because the processions pass through it, and it usually closes to visitors on some of the main days. The Alcázar normally stays open but books up. Check both official websites for the Holy Week timetable and book tickets ahead.

Many of Seville's brotherhoods were founded in the 16th and 17th centuries, and some are older. In 1604 Cardinal Niño de Guevara ordered all of them to make their penitential station at the cathedral, the origin of the shared route still used today. Much of the sculpture carried on the pasos is Baroque, by artists such as Juan de Mesa and Martínez Montañés.

Córdoba, Málaga and Granada all hold large processions of their own, and Córdoba is 45 minutes from Seville on the high-speed train. Málaga's processions are louder and more theatrical, with huge thrones carried by hundreds of bearers. The Feria de Abril follows in Seville about two weeks later, so a longer spring trip can take in both.

Yes, and Sevillian children are everywhere. Many nazarenos hand out sweets or holy cards to children along the route, and kids traditionally collect the wax dripping from the candles into a growing ball. Choose an afternoon procession near the start of its route, where the crowd is thinner, and skip the Madrugá with small children.

The crowd is generally calm, but the narrow streets get very tight, and in 2000 and 2017 false alarms caused stampedes during the Madrugá. Know where you are, avoid squeezing into dead-end alleys, and keep a meeting point if your group gets split. Carry bags in front of you, as pickpockets are active.