Spain during Holy Week 2011 -
 

We are planning our vacation to visit Barcelona/Madrid/Sevilla from April 15th - 29th.
Our travel agent advised us that most restaurants, museums & businesses will be close for the Lent week & days following Easter.
Any advice on whether we should even consider going during this time?
It has been our dream to visit Spain and we would like to get the most out of it without the disappointment of closures, etc.
Thanks in advance!

In two words---basically no.
But we need the full itinerary to tell you more.

Our tentative itinerary would probably be as follows:
April 16-21 Barcelona
April 21-25 Seville
April 26-29 Madrid
We are still trying to tweak out the details as far as dates & duration of stay in each city.
Thanks!

Thanks ribeira. Our main concern as mentioned above is closures during the festive Easter Holy Week. We want to ensure we get the best possible time out of our vacation.

We were in Spain during the week before Easter several years ago, and it was an incredible experience. However, knowing how crowded Seville was going to be from Good Friday thru Easter, we opted to fly home on Holy Saturday, and spent Good Friday night at a hotel near the airport. We were in Ronda on Holy Thursday, and the parade that evening was an emotional experience I will never forget. A few days earlier we were in Granada and watched another unforgettable parade; beautiful, but not nearly so packed with emotion. Ronda is an easy drive to/from Seville, and is just stunning. Easily worth 2 or 3 days.

Have you already secured your accommodation for Seville? Because you are arriving at the busiest time of Holy Week, when the city is packed and accommodation booked up. Even if you can find somewhere, it's likely to be 3-4 times the usual rate and/or located way out in the suburbs, very inconvenient for all-night processions which are the highlight of the Semana Santa celebrations.

Your travel agent hasn't been to Spain during Holy Week. Restaurants are open but may be more crowded than normal. Most stores are open except for Thurs afternoon and Friday. You may find opening hours limited but generally Thursday & Friday.

You won't be disapponted. I agree that you'll need to book accomodation ASAP. With the economic crisis you may be able to find a room but the price may be 1.5-2 times the high season rate.

Everything was open when we were there last year. And the crowds were not as bad as we feared--they do congregate around the procession routes. We had a great time in Sevilla and Granda during Holy Week, and in Madrid on Easter Sunday and the week after.