Holy Week in Cuenca and San Mateo: reaching the old town, where cars pick up when processions close the streets and how to get back to the villages

What is special about Cuenca's Holy Week and when does the old town close?

Cuenca's Holy Week has been of international tourist interest since 1980 and has something no other has: the processions climb and descend through the gorge, between the Hanging Houses, the cathedral and the cobbled streets of the upper town, with the images carried on shoulders up slopes that would be unthinkable in other cities. The best-known procession is Camino del Calvario, in the small hours of Good Friday, with the "turbas" of drums and bugles accompanying the Nazareno del Salvador from half past five in the morning. It coincides with the Religious Music Week, a festival of concerts in churches and auditoriums that draws audiences from all over Spain.

On procession days the city council closes the old town and the routes to traffic, and they change daily: the Plaza Mayor, Calle Alfonso VIII, the San Pedro descent and the gorge bridges are closed to vehicles for hours, and the upper-town car parks close or fill. The province page gives the rule: processions close the streets of the old town, so it is best to set the pickup outside the routes. Each year's programme and closure map are published by the Junta de Cofradías and the council, and should be checked on the day.

And San Mateo, in September?

The San Mateo fiestas, around 21 September, commemorate the reconquest of Cuenca by Alfonso VIII in 1177 and are of national tourist interest: for several days the peñas fill the Plaza Mayor and the upper-town streets, with roped young bulls released in the square every afternoon, scarves and white smocks, and crowds at night. It is a local, young festival, less known outside than Holy Week, but it fills the city's accommodation and moves the whole province towards the capital.

The traffic closures are the usual upper-town ones, with the bulls added: the Plaza Mayor and its approaches are fenced off in the afternoon and the area stays car-free until the small hours. The province page sums it up: there are traffic closures in the upper town and crowds at night. The sensible pickup point is down below, in the new town, around Plaza de la Hispanidad or Parque de San Julián, fifteen minutes' walk down from the Plaza Mayor.

How do you reach Cuenca on those days from Madrid and from the province?

From Madrid and Valencia, the AVE to Cuenca-Fernando Zóbel is the most comfortable way: under an hour from Atocha and just over fifty minutes from Joaquín Sorolla, with extra services at Easter. The station is on the outskirts, far from the old town, and on those days the city line to the station runs full; the transfer from the station to the hotel or a point in the lower town is booked with the train number, and the pickup for the return likewise. The province page marks it: at Easter and the fiestas, pickups at the station and in the old town are the most requested.

From the province you come by car, because the intercity buses run on weekday timetables that match neither the small-hours processions nor the San Mateo nights. The engine's figures to the old town: Tarancón 85 km and about 61 min on the A-40; Motilla del Palancar 71 km and 70 min; Mota del Cuervo 122 km and 119 min; San Clemente 112 km; Quintanar del Rey 98 km. On those days your own car has the parking problem: the upper town closed and the lower-town car parks full from mid-morning.

Where do you set the pickup in the old town?

Not at the door, whether at Easter, at San Mateo or, often, on any ordinary day: the province page warns of it year-round, because the upper-town streets are narrow and stopping is not always possible. What works is a fixed, recognisable point, the same for both ways, outside the day's procession route: in the lower town, Plaza de la Hispanidad, Parque de San Julián or the bus station; in the upper town, when open, the castle area along the road up from the San Pablo bridge, with the view of the Hanging Houses from the other side of the gorge.

The driver confirms the point on booking and, if that day's closure map puts it inside the route, suggests another. For the Good Friday turbas procession, which starts before dawn, the arrival is booked for five in the morning with pickup in the lower town, and the return for after breakfast, when the procession has finished and the streets reopen; it is the busiest small hours of the year in Cuenca and the cars run out days in advance.

How do you get back to the villages in the small hours?

Just as at the Albacete Fair or on Almagro festival nights: there is no public transport at those hours and the return is booked before leaving. San Mateo nights end between three and five, and the Good Friday procession ends mid-morning after a sleepless night; in both cases driving back to Tarancón or Motilla is not a good idea. The transfer price is per car and not per person, so for a peña of four or five from Mota del Cuervo the split comes to little more than the night costs, and nobody drives.

You book with an approximate time and the agreed point in the lower town, and adjust by message when the group decides to leave. The "from" fares from each village to the old town are on its route page and the calculator gives the exact price with the date and time; at Easter and San Mateo, the province page is clear: cars are booked days in advance, because the whole province wants to go home at once. The rest of the year, the same rule serves for dinner in the upper town or a concert at the auditorium: a fixed point off the slopes and an agreed time.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

• Junta de Cofradías de Semana Santa de Cuenca · programa y recorridos (consulted on 27 October 2026)
• Semana de Música Religiosa de Cuenca · programa (consulted on 27 October 2026)
• Ayuntamiento de Cuenca · fiestas de San Mateo y cortes de tráfico (consulted on 27 October 2026)
• Renfe · AVE y Avant Madrid–Cuenca y Valencia–Cuenca; refuerzos de Semana Santa (consulted on 27 October 2026)