Malaga man jailed for drug trafficking receives pardon of Jesus El Rico

Antonio Daniel M.P. has become the latest prisoner to be freed by Nuestro Padre Jesús Nazareno El Rico, continuing the significant Semana Santa tradition in Malaga city which dates back centuries.

The prisoner, cloaked in a black robe, took the podium just as the Cathedral clock struck 8pm on Wednesday and read out the historic mandate of freedom.

Then, with the wave of a hand Jesús El Rico officially freed Antonio Daniel, who was thrown behind bars in September of 2021 for drug trafficking.

The Provincial Court of Málaga had sentenced the La Trinidad man who was currently serving his sentence in home detention and had around ten months still to serve.

He now joined the El Rico de Málaga brotherhood as part of a Semana Santa tradition which dates back to 1759.

The president of the provincial court of Malaga, Lourdes García Ortiz, welcomed Antonio Daniel’s pardon from prison: "A cofrade is to be in the city and to be part of its pulse," she said, paraphrasing Francisco Javier Jiménez Valverde, this year’s Semana Santa town crier.

Minister of Justice, María Pilar Llop said: "We can fulfil a tradition that goes back centuries, to the times of Carlos III,” she said.

“From the public authorities we must defend our democratic values, this pardon contributes to this, because if someone falls, they have the right to repent and get up.”

The release of a prisoner each year by Jesús El Rico is something that has occurred in Malaga since Carlos III dictated in 1759.

A plague epidemic in Malaga forced the suspension of Semana Santa processions that year.

The inmates of the Malaga prison had asked the warden to remove El Rico themselves, but they were denied and, for this reason, they rioted, escaped and they charged through the city’s streets.

The prisoners returned to jail, and days later the epidemic ended, which was considered a miracle by Carlos III, who then granted the privilege of a pardon.