Every year, the Spanish royal family’s Easter Week is one of those mysteries that sparks conversation.
Since 2019, they have not attended the Easter Mass at Palma Cathedral, which had been a long-standing tradition, and since then, their spring break has been a period with no official schedule.
What is known, however, is that in recent years, they have combined vacations in low-key destinations with surprise appearances at processions, always outside the official calendar and always in an informal capacity, mingling with the crowd.
This year, there is a new factor complicating the family’s plans, as Princess Leonor and Infanta Sofía will not be together from the first day. Princess Leonor arrives from the General Air Force Academy on Friday, but Infanta Sofía doesn’t have vacation until Good Friday. So, the whole family won’t be together until the weekend at the earliest.
Where the King and Queen of Spain usually spend Easter weekend
Portugal comes up time and again when discussing the Bourbons’ private destinations around this time of year.
King Felipe VI has occasionally acknowledged that the Algarve is one of his favorite places to visit, and in 2015, it was revealed that the four of them stayed at the Castle of São João de Arade, owned by Letizia’s close friend, Vasco Manuel de Quevedo Pereira Coutinho.
This year, Infanta Sofía is living in Portugal for her studies, so if she brings her vacation forward, a family getaway to the neighboring country would make perfect sense. Of course, nothing has been confirmed, but the patterns are repeating themselves.
Why the King and Queen Stopped Attending Easter Mass in Mallorca
The 2020 pandemic was the official excuse for breaking with the Mallorcan tradition, but there is a precedent that no one has forgotten. In 2018, upon leaving that same cathedral, there was a tense moment between Letizia and Queen Sofía in front of the photographers, with an exchange of gestures that went viral around the world.
Since then, the dynamic has changed. The King and Queen chose a more intimate and less public setting. In 2024, they quietly joined the procession as the Virgen de la Soledad was carried out of the Concepción Real de Calatrava church in Madrid.
In 2023, they appeared in Chinchón for the 60th anniversary of the Passion of Christ on Holy Saturday.
These gestures work precisely because no one expects them.
What plans does the royal family have for Easter 2026?
This year, the question is whether King Felipe and Queen Letizia will make an appearance at a procession in Andalusia or Valencia, two regions that have featured prominently on their recent agenda following the Adamuz train accident and the 2024 floods.
In the meantime, Queen Sofía has confirmed plans. According to Europa Press, she will travel to Murcia to attend the Solemn Procession of Silence and the Most Holy Christ of the Miners in Cartagena on Holy Thursday, and then the procession of the Confraternity of Our Father Jesus of Nazareth in the regional capital, which has been declared an Asset of Cultural Interest.
She may share these plans with the Infantas Elena and Cristina, who have been very attentive to their mother since the death of Irene of Greece.