Redaccion
Manuel Palomar, exrector of the University of Alicante and current director of the Digital Intelligence Center (CENID), has blended «tradition, technology, and faith» by delivering the 2025 Easter Week proclamation this Saturday at the Teatro Principal in Alicante.
The event, which was also attended by the Councilor of Festivities at the Alicante City Council, Cristina García, featured the presence of the bishop of Orihuela-Alicante, José Ignacio Munilla, for the first time, as indicated by the municipality in a statement.
Palomar began his speech by evoking the «Mediterranean essence» of Alicante and the «deep devotion» with which Easter is celebrated. He addressed, from the perspective of artificial intelligence, «how technology can be a bridge between history and modernity, allowing the dissemination and preservation of the Easter Week legacy without losing its spiritual essence.»
The proclamation also highlighted the relationship between education and faith. At this point, he emphasized the role of institutions such as the Jesuits, Salesians, Marists, and Augustinians, «cradle of brotherhoods that combine education with devotion.»
He also emphasized the influence of the University of Alicante on Easter Week, particularly in the Brotherhood of Christ of Divine Love and Our Lady of Solitude ‘La Marinera’, «where academia and spirituality intertwine.»
He also highlighted the «impact» of «iconic» processions such as those of Santa Cruz and the Holy Christ of Good Death, «which are a reflection of Alicante’s fervor» and concluded with the exaltation of the Mediterranean spirit «where light, sea, and faith intertwine in a celebration that unites generations and projects Alicante as a reference of tradition and modernity.»
At the end of his speech, the President of the Major Council of Brotherhoods and Confraternities of Easter Week, Alfredo Llopis, presented him with the ‘Alicante de Pasión’, an original ceramic piece by Morán Berruti.
«IT LIVES ITS GOLDEN AGE»
On the other hand, the mayor of the city, Luis Barcala, who was the proclaimer in 2024, emphasized that «Easter Week in Alicante is living its Golden Age.» «I said it last year and I reaffirm it this year,» he stressed.
The mayor invited people to «witness the processions from the official route, but also from the exits of the temples where Easter Week is experienced in a special way.» In his opinion, «it is an experience that must be lived.»
He also remembered the pyrotechnician Pedro Luis Sirvent — who died last Thursday in the explosion at the Hermanos Sirvent fireworks factory — explaining that «he was the one who set off the fireworks coinciding with the procession of the Virgin of Joy and the ceremonial salutes in tribute to the Virgin of Remedy, the patron saint of Alicante.» «Hopefully his children continue that tradition so that their father, who fired from the heart, can still hear them,» he expressed.
The ONCE, represented by its director in Alicante, Estela Medina, was distinguished as the Honorary Flag Bearer after receiving the official flag of the Major Council from the provincial chief of the National Police in Alicante, Manuel Lafuente. The National Police was the Honorary Flag Bearer in 2024, coinciding with the 200th anniversary of its foundation.
