The Andalusian Government Council approved on Tuesday a direct grant of 600,000 euros, “of an exceptional nature”, to finance part of the expenses of the II International Congress of Brotherhoods and Popular Piety which will be held in Seville during the long weekend of December, and the culminating event of which will be the great procession of the great brotherhoods of Holy Week in this city, on the 8th.
The 600,000 euros come from “various leftovers” from the budget of the Ministry of Culture and Sports that Patricia del Pozo’s department did not spend at the end of the year, and which are now intended to subsidize the macro- fraternal event, this department confirms, that they did not specify why they stopped spending this money and which areas were affected by these “surplus” positions which now end up in the Council’s coffers. of the Brotherhoods of Seville.
This grant from the government of Juan Manuel Moreno is part of the collaboration agreement signed between the Ministry of Culture and the General Council of Brotherhoods and Brotherhoods of Seville, which organizes the macro-event. The City Hall of the capital Seville, in the hands of the popular mayor José Luis Sanz, has also planned an injection of 2.45 million euros for the security system of the grand procession, which will benefit from an unprecedented deployment throughout the city .
Holy Week in Seville is celebrated in spring and is one of the tourist peaks of the year, generating revenue of around 500 million euros from visits. It is the Archbishopric of the Andalusian capital which authorizes the processions – more than fifty over the last three months – and which allowed this macro-congress of fraternity in the middle of winter, between December 4 and 8, coinciding with a long festive weekend that usually fills the city with tourists and coincides with the switching on of the Christmas lights.
The event is unprecedented, even for a city as accustomed to popular excess as Seville. Eight religious images will participate in the great procession, including those that arouse the most devotion during Holy Week: the Esperanza Macarena, the Esperanza de Triana, the Jesus of the Great Power and the Christ of the Expiration (the Puppy ).
The funding provided by the Andalusian Executive is relative, if we consider that just by renting the chairs installed on the public roads of Seville to watch the processions of the marches, the Council of Brotherhoods will be able to earn more than 750,000 euros. . On the other hand, on the other hand, 600,000 euros at a time represents half of the Andalusian government’s annual budget for historical memory policies, practically frozen since the PP commissioned the San Telmo Palace, and which in 2025 amounts to 1.2 million euros.
The brotherhoods of the Andalusian capital are financed mainly by contributions paid by their brothers, but also by the Council of Brotherhoods. The entity that organizes the Magna of Seville charges 35 euros for each place in the official race, which runs through some of the most significant streets of the city center, closed expressly for this event: from the Cathedral to the Triana Bridge, passing by Avenida de la Constitución, Almirante Lobo and Paseo de Colón, next to the river.
In addition to the images of Holy Week, three virgins from the province of Seville will also parade: the Virgin of Valme, of two sisters; the Virgin of Setefilla, from Lora del Río; and the Virgin of Consolation, of Utrera; as well as the Virgin of Kings, patroness of the Archdiocese of Seville.
The macro-event of the brotherhood, which has been revolutionizing the city for months, also offers four exhibitions, one in the Cathedral, two at the Convent of Santa Clara and another at the Cajasol Foundation.
The Seville City Council dealt with the Council of Brotherhoods, because the placement of the Christmas lights in the streets through which the magna will pass made it difficult for the images to pass. The mayor also forced City Hall to modify the original design of the procession route for security reasons, in anticipation of the crowds who will gather to see the processions and the visits that will come from all over the country.
The exceptional subsidy that the Andalusian Executive authorized this Tuesday for the brotherhoods of Seville was on the agenda of the Government Council, although the Office of the Spokesperson of the Council did not publish any statement or make report during his subsequent appearance before the press.
The Ministry of Finance confirmed to this newspaper that the aid of 600,000 euros arises from the application of an exception to article 124.4 of the Public Finance Law of Andalusia, which says: “In subsidies whose justification is made after their receipt, an amount greater than 50% of the grant cannot be paid to the beneficiary person or entity without prior justification of previous payments, except in cases “cases in which the amount of these is equal to or less than 6,000 euros.”
“Pope Francis has expressly asked us to be close to the brotherhoods and brotherhoods, recognizing their very important contribution to the life of the Church,” declares the Archbishop of Seville, José Ángel Meneses, on the website which takes up the fraternities summit route.
Last spring, Council President Juan Manuel Moreno visited the Pope at the Vatican, shortly before Holy Week, and invited Francisco to visit Andalusia. The autonomous community has more than 2,500 brotherhoods with more than 600,000 brothers, according to Council data.
