Semana Santa 2026 is over — Viernes Santo fell on Friday 3 April 2026 — and the 2027 programme does not exist yet. So this page is two things and nothing else: a dated record of what the Municipalidad de La Antigua Guatemala actually closed in 2026, and an honest statement of what is still unpublished for 2027 and exactly who will publish it.
If you want to know where to stand, our Viernes Santo hour-by-hour guide is the page for that, and the Semana Santa dates and asuetos live on the event page. This one is about the car.
2027: not published, and we will not guess
Semana Santa 2027 closures: not yet published. Checked 2026-09-20. The Municipalidad de La Antigua Guatemala had published no Cuaresma or Semana Santa mobility plan for 2027 as of that date, so there is no street list, no perimeter date and no vehicle-ban window to give you. We will not invent one.
What is fixed: Sunday 21 March to Sunday 28 March 2027, with Viernes Santo on 2027-03-26.
What is not: Street list, perimeter dates, hours, diversions, car-park list, tariffs and shuttle routes. In 2026 the Municipalidad stated the perimeter would grow from the third Sunday of Lent, so even that year's list was not fixed within its own season.
Where it will appear:
- Municipalidad de La Antigua Guatemala press conference with the Concejo and church authorities — Both 2026 write-ups trace to one such conference; the 2026 plan carried the motto 'Recorriendo paso a paso una tradición de fe'.
- muniantigua.gob.gt and the municipal virtual assistant — The Muni announced the assistant as carrying the safe/pedestrian perimeter, municipal and public car-park locations, the free bus routes and the real-time procession tracker.
- PMT Antigua Guatemala — Credited as the source of the 2026 closure maps and photographs.
- CIV, for the national heavy-transport acuerdo — Acuerdo Ministerial 239-2026 covered the 2026 season; a fresh acuerdo is issued each year.
When: In 2026 the plan was presented before Lent began (Ash Wednesday 18 February, first perimeter day 22 February); the Jueves/Viernes Santo street list and hours were still being published on 1 April, two days before Viernes Santo; the CIV heavy-transport acuerdo was reported on 31 March. For 2027 the equivalent announcements fall in February 2027, with the operational detail in the last days before 25–27 March 2027.
What closed in 2026, day by day
| Date | Occasion | Closed to traffic | Window |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-02-22 | Primer Domingo de Cuaresma | No street list was published for this date in the sources we read. Named as a perimeter day. The street list for this date was not published in the sources read. | — source, read 2026-09-20 |
| 2026-03-01 | Segundo Domingo de Cuaresma | No street list was published for this date in the sources we read. Named as a perimeter day. The street list for this date was not published in the sources read. | — source, read 2026-09-20 |
| 2026-03-08 | Tercer Domingo de Cuaresma | No street list was published for this date in the sources we read. The Municipalidad stated the perimeter would GROW from the third Sunday of Lent onward. | — source, read 2026-09-20 |
| 2026-03-15 | Cuarto Domingo de Cuaresma | No street list was published for this date in the sources we read. Named as a perimeter day. The street list for this date was not published in the sources read. | — source, read 2026-09-20 |
| 2026-03-22 | Quinto Domingo de Cuaresma | No street list was published for this date in the sources we read. Named as a perimeter day. The street list for this date was not published in the sources read. | — source, read 2026-09-20 |
| 2026-03-29 | Domingo de Ramos (Palm Sunday) | Calzada Santa Lucía · 9a. calle · Chipilapa · Calle de los Duelos · Ánimas · Calle Ancha · Desengaño 23 hours closed for one procession day. | 04:00 Sunday 29 March to 03:00 Monday 30 March 2026 source, read 2026-09-20 |
| 2026-04-02 | Jueves Santo (Maundy Thursday) | puente Matazanos sobre la Calle de los Duelos · Colonia el Virrey · Candelaria · Calle de las Ánimas · calle Ancha · Avenida el Desengaño · Alameda Santa Lucía · carretera a Ciudad Vieja · 9a. Calle · calle Hermano Pedro · 7a. calle · calle Chipilapa PERMANENT perimeter on Jueves and Viernes Santo: traffic was NOT let through between processions. Diversion for the San Cristóbal El Bajo procession on the RN-10: San Pedro Las Huertas and Cuatro Caminos. | 04:00 Thursday 2 April to 09:00 Saturday 4 April 2026 — continuous source, read 2026-09-20 |
| 2026-04-03 | Viernes Santo (Good Friday) | puente Matazanos sobre la Calle de los Duelos · Colonia el Virrey · Candelaria · Calle de las Ánimas · calle Ancha · Avenida el Desengaño · Alameda Santa Lucía · carretera a Ciudad Vieja · 9a. Calle · calle Hermano Pedro · 7a. calle · calle Chipilapa From Sábado Santo onward there was no pedestrian perimeter and the PMT let vehicles through once each procession had passed. | inside the continuous 04:00 Thursday 2 April – 09:00 Saturday 4 April 2026 perimeter source, read 2026-09-20 |
Dated record of the 2026 season — it is history, not a forecast. Register last verified against the Municipalidad on 2026-09-20 (muniantigua.gob.gt read 2026-09-20 (HTTP 200): no Cuaresma or Semana Santa item published).
Three things in that table are the whole decision:
- The perimeter was permanent on Jueves and Viernes Santo. On a Lenten Sunday the street reopens behind the cortejo. On those two days it did not — one continuous closure from 04:00 on Thursday to 09:00 on Saturday. A car parked inside it was parked until Saturday.
- A single Sunday cost 23 hours. Palm Sunday’s closure ran from 04:00 on the Sunday to 03:00 on the Monday.
- The closures were different on every date, because the Municipalidad drew them around each procession route, and it stated that the perimeter would grow from the third Sunday of Lent.
The scale behind the closures
The Municipalidad’s own figures, presented at the plan’s launch: 114 activities programmed for Cuaresma and Semana Santa 2026, comprising 56 velaciones and 58 cortejos procesionales — the figure given by Sara Santis, the coordinator of Antigua’s mobility plan. Lent began on 18 February 2026 with Miércoles de Ceniza; the first pedestrian-perimeter day was 22 February.
The initial perimeter, as the Municipalidad described it at that conference, began at the calle de las Beatas Indias towards the Primera Avenida Norte, ran along the calle de los Carpinteros, the calle de las Ánimas and the calle Ancha de los Herreros, crossed the calle de San Sebastián and turned down the Séptima Avenida Norte, then along the Séptima Calle Poniente eastwards across the calle de Chipilapa towards Guatemala City.
Where the car went
The eight municipal car parks, the tariffs and the three free shuttle routes are in the register above. Two details are worth pulling out, because no English-language page carries them:
- The emergency centre. The Municipalidad opened one in the Salón de Protocolo of the Antiguo Palacio Arzobispal, facing the Plaza Mayor: medical attention, and the meeting point for lost children or adults. If you are bringing a family into a town of 300,000 people with no phone signal, that is the address to write down.
- Deliveries stopped. Shops could restock at normal hours on Lunes, Martes and Miércoles Santo, but from Jueves Santo to Domingo de Resurrección only overnight, until 04:00. That is why the town runs out of things by Friday afternoon.
For what the parking rules are outside Semana Santa — and why the 2026 tariffs above are not today’s law — see Antigua vehicle restrictions.
The national ban that is not the Municipality’s
A rule that catches people moving house, driving a rented pickup or bringing a van: for 2026 the CIV banned heavy transport nationally from 12:00 on 1 April to 23:50 on Sunday 5 April, under Acuerdo Ministerial 239-2026, for vehicles over 3.5 metric tonnes gross. Perishables, food, drink, fuels, audiovisual equipment for authorised events and cranes were exempt, and the port corridors to Puerto Barrios, Santo Tomás de Castilla and Puerto Quetzal stayed open.
The two windows do not line up, and that is the trap:
| Starts | Ends | |
|---|---|---|
| CIV national heavy-transport ban (over 3.5 t) | 12:00, Wed 1 April 2026 | 23:50, Sun 5 April 2026 |
| Antigua pedestrian perimeter, Jueves–Viernes Santo | 04:00, Thu 2 April 2026 | 09:00, Sat 4 April 2026 |
| Antigua municipal car parks open | 04:00, Thu 2 April 2026 | 08:00, Sat 4 April 2026 |
A fresh CIV acuerdo is issued for each season. The 2027 one does not exist yet either.
How to use this page in 2027
- Take the shape, not the streets. The reliable pattern is: perimeter on the Lenten Sundays plus Domingo de Ramos, Jueves Santo and Viernes Santo; continuous through the last two; municipal car parks with free shuttles; a national heavy-transport ban straddling the weekend.
- Watch the Municipalidad, not the aggregators. The channels are listed in the pending block above, and the PMT’s map is the artefact that carries the street list.
- Come back here. We re-check the Municipalidad and restamp the register; the verification date is printed on it, so you can see how stale the check is rather than trusting a page that never says.
Related: Semana Santa dates and asuetos · Viernes Santo hour by hour · Antigua vehicle restrictions · getting to Antigua · driving Guatemala City to Antigua · roadblocks and protests today
Every row in the register above carries the source it came from and the date we read it. Nothing on this page describes 2027 traffic, because nothing about 2027 traffic has been published.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I drive into Antigua on Good Friday?
Not into the perimeter, and in 2026 not between processions either. The Municipalidad ran a continuous pedestrian perimeter from 04:00 on Thursday 2 April to 09:00 on Saturday 4 April 2026, and stated the point explicitly: during Jueves and Viernes Santo the perimeter was permanent, so vehicle traffic was not let through as the processions advanced. That is the difference between Holy Week and an ordinary Lenten Sunday, when the closure lifts behind each cortejo. From Sábado Santo onward there was no perimeter and the PMT let vehicles through once a procession had passed.
Where do I park for Semana Santa in Antigua?
In 2026 the Municipalidad opened eight municipal car parks — La Pólvora, Campo #3, Finca Retana, Centro de Servicios (motorcycles only), Santa Inés, INVAL, Rancho Nimajay (reserved for older adults, pregnant women and people with disabilities) and Auxiliatura de Santa Inés — from 04:00 on Thursday 2 April to 08:00 on Saturday 4 April. Prensa Libre’s list of the same operation also named Plataformas. Three free shuttle routes ran on the same hours: Santa Inés to the Fuente de las Delicias, INVAL to San Francisco El Grande, and Rancho Nimajay to the 4a. Avenida Sur, that last one reserved for older adults, pregnant women and people with disabilities.
What were the Semana Santa parking tariffs in Antigua in 2026?
The published municipal car-park tariffs for the 2026 season were Q10 for a car, Q5 for a motorcycle, Q20 for a micro bus, Q40 for a coster and Q60 for a bus from Monday to Thursday, rising on Fridays, weekends and Semana Santa to Q20, Q10, Q30, Q60 and Q100, with a special rate at Santa Inés and La Pólvora during ordinary operating hours capped at Q40 a day for cars and Q20 for motorcycles. Treat those as the 2026 record, not as today’s prices: the street-parking charge alongside them was suspended by the Constitutional Court on 20 May 2026 and replaced by a new reglamento on 9 June 2026. Our Antigua vehicle restrictions page carries that timeline.
When will the 2027 Antigua closure map be published?
It had not been published as of 20 September 2026 — we read muniantigua.gob.gt that day and it carries no Cuaresma or Semana Santa item at all. Semana Santa 2027 runs from Sunday 21 March to Sunday 28 March 2027, with Viernes Santo on Friday 26 March. On the 2026 precedent, the plan is presented at a municipal press conference with church authorities before Lent begins, and the street-by-street detail for Jueves and Viernes Santo lands in the final days: in 2026 it was still being published on 1 April, two days before Viernes Santo. So expect the outline in February 2027 and the street list in the last week of March 2027.
Are the same streets closed every year?
No, and they were not even fixed within 2026. The Municipalidad set the perimeter street by street around each cortejo’s route, so the closures differed by date, and it said the perimeter would grow from the third Sunday of Lent onward. Palm Sunday 2026 closed the Calzada Santa Lucía, 9a. calle, Chipilapa, Calle de los Duelos, Ánimas, Calle Ancha and Desengaño; Jueves and Viernes Santo closed a much longer list running from the Matazanos bridge through the Alameda Santa Lucía and the Ciudad Vieja road. Any page giving you a 2027 street list today is guessing.
Does the heavy-transport ban affect my rental van?
It can, and it is national rather than municipal, so it is easy to miss. For 2026 the Ministerio de Comunicaciones, Infraestructura y Vivienda banned heavy transport across the whole country from 12:00 on 1 April to 23:50 on Sunday 5 April, under Acuerdo Ministerial 239-2026, for vehicles with a gross weight above 3.5 metric tonnes. Perishables, food, drink, fuels, audiovisual equipment for authorised events and cranes were exempt, and named port corridors stayed open. Note the shape: it started a day before Antigua’s Thursday 04:00 perimeter and ran two days after it lifted.
How do I get out of Antigua if the Matazanos bridge is shut?
Plan the exit before you park. In 2026 the PMT announced that vehicle entry and exit over the puente Matazanos would be disabled for a Thursday afternoon and again in the small hours of Saturday 4 April, and recommended alternative routes. Separately, because the San Cristóbal El Bajo village procession crossed the RN-10 on Jueves Santo, the PMT recommended routing via San Pedro Las Huertas and Cuatro Caminos. One caution on the source: the article naming the Matazanos afternoon gives a weekday and a date that do not match each other, so we report the measure without asserting which calendar date it meant.
