In a landmark clash between 15th-century religious tradition and 21st-century equality mandates, the Spanish government has initiated the formal revocation of the Holy Week of Sagunto’s National Tourist Intereststatus.
The move, announced jointly by the Ministries of Tourism and Equality, comes as a direct response to a defiant vote by the Brotherhood of the Immaculate Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
The brotherhood, which has operated with male-only statutes since the late Middle Ages, recently rejected a proposal to allow women into its governing body by a margin of 267 to 114 and limits participation in the Holy Week of Sagunto to males.
The Spanish Socialist government argues that the exclusion of women violates the 2007 Equality Law and the “citizen participation” requirements necessary for state-recognized tourist festivals.
While the Institute of Women asserts that such exclusions are “not tradition but discrimination,” the brotherhood and its supporters view the government’s intervention as an ideological overreach into the autonomous life of a private religious entity.
With the Archdiocese of Valencia remaining silent and the regional government calling for “dialogue,” the city of Sagunto now faces the prospect of losing significant economic and symbolic prestige unless it abandons a 500-year-old social structure.
