A friend and I are planning on visiting Spain / Portugal from the end of March to the middle of April. Unfortunately, I heard somewhere that easter week is killer in Spain - everything is overbooked, you can't get anywhere, etc.

Is this true? Would we be better off leaving for Spain later or was this person just exagerating?

Any help would be GREATLY appreciated as we'd like to buy our tickets as soon as possible.

Oh, and any suggestions on where to go would be great! Thanks!!

In Easter Week spaniards usually go on vacation, abandon the cities and go everywhere else in the country (specially beaches or places like Seville were catholic easter rites are very famous). Yes, it will all be overcrowded, overbooked, expensive,... I would really suggest to come any other week unless you would like to live the holidays' ambience.

Fernando

In many respects, it´s wonderful to visit Madrid (and even Barcelona) during Semana Santa because the cities seem almost empty, there´s little traffic, lots of parking available, and it´s much quieter. On the down-side, some restaurants, stores, and attractions close too.

As Fernando says, it´s more difficult to find lodgings in the smaller villages around Spain during this time.

Saludos, MadridMan