Alghero Events

Alghero's calendar is Spanish in shape, with a heavy summer season on top.

Holy Week

The Setmana Santa is the most distinctive thing in the town's year and is unlike Italian Holy Week elsewhere. The rites are Spanish in origin, run by confraternities, and conducted partly in Catalan. The central moment is the Desclavament, the ceremonial taking down of the figure of Christ from the cross on Good Friday, followed by a procession through the walled town.

Summer

From June to September the town runs an almost continuous programme of concerts, open-air cinema and events on the bastions and in the squares, and the port fills with boats. The busiest week is around Ferragosto in mid-August, when the walled town holds a crowd far larger than its own population and seats on the bastions go hours in advance.

Sant Miquel

The patronal feast at the end of September, smaller and more local than the summer programme, and a better measure of the town.

The sea urchin season

From winter into early spring the town eats bogamari, sea urchins, in quantity, and the coastal villages run festivals around them. It is a properly local season, in the coldest and emptiest months, and it is the best time to eat here.

Cap d'Any

New Year is a large outdoor event in Alghero, with concerts in the squares and on the bastions and a crowd that fills the walled town — unusual for an Italian seaside resort in midwinter.

Autumn and winter

Harvest festivals on the Nurra, and a quiet Christmas with lights through the old lanes.