# Holy Week from Barcelona: from Good Friday to Easter Monday Four getaways with a night away and four day trips from Barcelona for Holy Week: the Verges procession, spring snow, Easter song at Montserrat and Easter Monday. Fuente: https://www.geocalia.com/en/spain/catalonia/barcelona/getaways/easter-holy-week · Revisado: 2026-11-13 Origen: Barcelona - [A weekend in the medieval Empordà, based in Peratallada](https://www.geocalia.com/en/spain/catalonia/peratallada/itineraries/medieval-weekend-peratallada-emporda.md) (2 nights, Peratallada): On the night of Maundy Thursday, in Verges, ten kilometres from Peratallada, the procession with the Dansa de la Mort goes out, the only one danced in Catalonia. Leave Barcelona after work, sleep in Peratallada and fly in the balloon with Good Friday free. - [A ski weekend in the Cerdanya, an hour and three quarters from Barcelona](https://www.geocalia.com/en/spain/catalonia/cerdanya/itineraries/cerdanya-ski-weekend-from-barcelona.md) (2 nights, Cerdanya): La Molina and Masella open from December to April depending on the snow, so Holy Week is usually one of their last weekends. Spring snow: hard first thing and soft in the afternoon, so ski early and leave the afternoon for Puigcerdà lake. - [A weekend in the Ripollès: Romanesque monasteries and the Núria rack railway](https://www.geocalia.com/en/spain/catalonia/ripoll/itineraries/ripolles-romanesque-monasteries-and-nuria.md) (2 nights, Ripoll): In Núria, at almost 2,000 metres, spring arrives late and at Easter it is still a snowy landscape, while down below the valley is already green. The rack railway runs all year, but in the school holidays many people go up: buy your ticket online. - [A thermal night in Caldes de Montbui, half an hour from Barcelona](https://www.geocalia.com/en/spain/catalonia/caldes-de-montbui/itineraries/thermal-night-caldes-de-montbui.md) (1 night, Caldes de Montbui): Spring on the coast brings rainy days, and Caldes is the getaway that does not depend on the weather: water at 74 °C, thermal baths and Roman baths with a guide. The washhouses open in the morning almost every day; for Easter Day, ask first at Thermalia. - [Montserrat: cable car and Sant Jeroni](https://www.geocalia.com/en/spain/catalonia/montserrat/itineraries/montserrat-cable-car-and-sant-jeroni-from-manresa.md) (Day itinerary, Montserrat): Montserrat celebrates Easter with song: the Easter Vigil on the night before and the Easter Day Mass at 11:00, with the Virolai, for which a place is booked. Go up to Sant Jeroni early and come down in time; the Escolania begins its holidays right afterwards. - [Codorníu: cellars by train and lunch in the tower](https://www.geocalia.com/en/spain/catalonia/penedes/itineraries/codorniu-cava-cellars-by-train-sant-sadurni.md) (Day itinerary, Penedès): The Codorníu cellars have visits all year and La Torre on the estate serves lunches every day: confirm the holiday time when you book. It is the plan for a single holiday day without a car: the Rodalies R4 drops you at Sant Sadurní. - [Peralada: Dalí, winery and mill](https://www.geocalia.com/en/spain/catalonia/peralada/itineraries/peralada-dali-museum-and-winery-from-girona.md) (Day itinerary, Peralada): The Dalí Theatre-Museum is closed on Mondays except in July and August, with an occasional exceptional opening on a holiday Monday: check its calendar and do this plan on Good Friday or the day after. The Perelada winery and the mill lunch complete the day. - [Besalú: bridge, Jewish quarter and basalt](https://www.geocalia.com/en/spain/catalonia/besalu/itineraries/besalu-bridge-jewish-quarter-and-castellfollit.md) (Day itinerary, Besalú): For Easter Monday, when the Dalí usually closes, Besalú works just as well: the bridge, the Jewish quarter and Castellfollit can be seen independently, and the miniatures museum opens on holiday Mondays. With the spring thaw, the Fluvià runs with water under the bridge. ## Maundy Thursday is a working day, Easter Monday is not In Catalonia, Holy Week has a shape of its own. Maundy Thursday is a working day, unlike in most of Spain; the holidays are Good Friday and Easter Monday, the day of the mona. So what you have is four days in a row, Friday to Monday, and many families add the Holy Week school holidays. If you can leave on Maundy Thursday evening, after work, you gain a night: that of the Empordà, which is precisely the night of the Verges procession. With four days there is room for two nights in the Cerdanya or the Ripollès and a single day on the way back. On Easter Monday many people stay at home to eat the mona with their godparents: that day, a plan of a few hours is better. ## Verges, the night death dances In Verges, in the Baix Empordà, the Maundy Thursday procession preserves the Dansa de la Mort, skeletons that dance to the beat of a drum through the village streets. It is a Heritage Festival of National Interest and starts late, around ten at night, in the main square. The village fills; park on the outskirts and arrive in good time. From Peratallada, ten minutes away, you go back to sleep inside the old town and the next morning you have the balloon or the Iberian city of Ullastret, which also opens on Easter Monday. ## The last snow, an hour and three quarters away Snow in the Cerdanya has no fixed closing date: La Molina and Masella open until April if the snow holds. When Holy Week falls early, it is an almost full ski weekend; when it falls late, half the resort may remain. Check the report the night before and have a plan without pistes: the cable car to La Tosa, Puigcerdà lake or going up to Núria by rack railway from Ripoll. In the Ripollès, the monastery of Santa Maria also moves to summer hours at the end of March. ## Montserrat on Easter Day For many people from Barcelona, Easter means Montserrat. The abbey sings the Easter Vigil on the night before and celebrates the Easter Day Mass with motets and the Virolai; you have to book a place in the basilica. If you go up on the R5 and the Aeri, take the first train: the cable car and the rack railway queue by mid-morning. The Sant Jeroni circuit is two and a half hours, good to do before Mass or after lunch. ## If it rains, and with children April is a rainy month on the coast. Caldes de Montbui, 35 minutes away, is the getaway that does not depend on the sky: the Font del Lleó, at 74 °C, can be seen for free, and the El Safareig baths admit from age 13. The little ones enjoy the underground train in the Codorníu cellars, where under-8s go free, and the fortified bridge at Besalú. Children can fly in the balloon from age 5. ## What to tie down before the holidays The first thing to sell out is beds in small villages: Peratallada, Puigcerdà and Ripoll. Then the balloon and the places at the Easter Mass in Montserrat. The lift pass is bought online, cheaper than at the ticket office. If you are going to Verges, arrive before nine. On Good Friday morning the exit towards the Pyrenees on the C-16 and the Cadí tunnel, and towards the Empordà on the AP-7, is heavy; on Easter Monday afternoon, the return. Avoid Mondays for museums unless you confirm they open: the Dalí in Figueres closes almost all of them, and for Santa Maria de Ripoll confirm the hours for each holiday. ## Preguntas frecuentes ### Do I work on Maundy Thursday if I live in Barcelona? Yes, unless you are on holiday: in Catalonia Maundy Thursday is a working day, and the Holy Week holidays are Good Friday and Easter Monday. ### When is the Verges Dansa de la Mort? On the night of Maundy Thursday, in the Verges procession, around ten. It is free, although there are paid chairs in the square. ### Can you ski at Easter near Barcelona? It depends on the snow and the date. La Molina and Masella open until April if the snow holds; check the report the night before. ### What can you visit on mona day? The Iberian city of Ullastret, which opens that Monday although it closes on the others; the streets and bridge of Besalú, with its miniatures museum; and the Penedès cellars, confirming the time. The Dalí museum in Figueres usually closes.