Corpus Christi

The feast of Corpus Christi, devoted to the Eucharist, dates back in Seville to the late Middle Ages. It falls on a Thursday, sixty days after Easter Sunday, and is one of the city's two local holidays.

On the eve, people go out to see the ephemeral altars set up along the route. In Plaza de San Francisco two large arches are built along with an altar bearing the Virgen de la Hiniesta Gloriosa, patroness of the City Council, and the streets are carpeted with rushes (juncia) and rosemary.

On Thursday morning there is a pontifical mass in the Cathedral, presided over by the archbishop, and the procession goes out through the centre. During the mass the Seises dance: a group of boys dating back to the 16th century who dance before the Blessed Sacrament in 17th-century costumes, red for Corpus; at the end the mayor gives them a gold doubloon.

The procession leaves the Cathedral by the San Miguel door and runs along Avenida de la Constitución, Plaza de San Francisco, Sierpes, Cerrajería, Cuna, Plaza del Salvador, Villegas, Francos, Placentines, Cardenal Carlos Amigo Vallejo and Plaza Virgen de los Reyes, re-entering through the Palos door (2026 route).

The heart of the festival is Plaza de San Francisco, in front of the City Hall, with the arches and the altar of the Virgen de la Hiniesta.

In 2026 Tussam reinforced almost all its radial lines and cross-town lines 3 and 5 on Corpus Thursday, starting half an hour earlier than usual; lines 3, 5, 12, 13, 25, 26, 27, 32, 37, 40, 41, 43, the Metrocentro tram and the Tranvibús ran from 6:30 am.

On the night before it is a tradition to walk round the altars, shop windows and balconies decorated with Eucharistic and Marian motifs; every year the City Council holds a decoration contest. In the morning there are chairs along some stretches of the route and awnings against the sun.

After the procession the image of the Last Supper returns to its church and the Virgen de la Hiniesta goes back to San Julián at nightfall. The following weekend Triana holds its own Corpus, the Corpus Chico, and more than twenty Eucharistic processions go out in the neighbourhoods.