April 16 Via Crucis in Torrealta (Molina de Segura)

A reenactment of the Stations of the Cross just outside Molina de Segura

One of the most unusual of the many Semana Santa celebrations in the Region of Murcia takes place every year on Easter Wednesday, and was first organized in the 1980s by José Moreno, the parish priest of Torrealta, an outlying district of Molina de Segura.

Sr Moreno’s celebration consisted of a living representation in the streets of the town of the Via Crucis, and when he left the village and the tradition he started died out, many locals missed it. However, in 1997, having gained the support of the former priest, they decided, in collaboration with the Town Hall of Molina, to re-start the tradition, and it was thus reinstated the following year.

Since then the event has grown to very large proportions, and is now extremely popular not only among those who live in Torrealta but also in the town of Molina de Segura and throughout central Murcia. As well as the traditional Stations of the Cross other scenes have been added, including the triumphant arrival of Christ in Jerusalem, the Last Supper and the Resurrection.

All of these scenes are acted out at locations in and around Torrealta, with the best known and most popular being the crucifixion on a hill in the outskirts which becomes Mount Calvary for the occasion.

At present the running order of events on the Via Crucis of Torre Alta is as follows:

• The Last Supper, after which Jesus retires to the Garden of Gethsemane.
• The angel appears to Jesus.
• Jesus speaks to the Apostles and tells them that they will betray him.
• Judas kisses Jesus and betrays him.
• Jesus is taken to the Sanhedrin.
• The soldiers place Jesus before Pontius Pilate.
• Jesus falls for the first time.
• Saint Peter betrays Jesus.
• Jesus meets the Virgin Mary.
• Simon of Cyrene carries the Cross of Jesus.
• Saint Veronica offers her veil for Jesus to wipe his face.
• Jesus falls for the second time.
• Jesus speaks to the women of Jersualem.
• Jesus falls for the third time.
• Jesus is stripped of his clothes.
• Jesus is nailed to the Cross.
• Reflection on death.
• The Virgin Mary weeps for her son.
• The Resurrection of Christ.

The Via Crucis begins on Wednesday April 16 at 23.00 in Calle La Mola and follows a route along Javier Azagra, Plaza de la Iglesia, Alfredo Nobel, Ramón y Cajal, Isaac Albéniz, Plaza de la Cruz, Maestro Rodrigo, Domingo Gil, Carmen Conde, and García Lorca before proceeding to the crucifixion site.

The village is so small that it’s hard not to find the events of the Via Crucis once you arrive in Torrealta, to which the easiest access is from the N-301 road which runs along the western edge of Molina de Segura. If approaching from the south turn left at the first roundabout after reaching Molina, just after the Repsol petrol station, and follow the RM-560 road for just over a kilometre.

Click for map location of Torrealta, Molina de Segura.