‘La Castanyada’ – Halloween in Catalonia
Wanting to go somewhere to celebrate Halloween in style? Then want no more and book yourself on a plane to Catalonia’. ‘La Castanyada’ is fêted on 1 November every year in celebration of Catalonia’s All Saints Day. The whole of this culturally autonomous province is engulfed in a day of carousing and festivities. But it is in Barcelona where the festivities are celebrated with particular fervour and excitement.
The chestnut takes a primary role in the ‘La Castanyada’ festival and the beautiful authentic Catalan dishes that are served in the many bars, restaurants and even homes that welcome passer-by’s to sample the traditional cuisine, all incorporate chestnuts into the cooking and produce deliciously warm autumnal flavours. Bags of sweet chestnuts are sold in the many colourfully decorated ‘chestnut kiosks’ lining Barcelona’s streets, erected solely for All saints Day. Competing with the chestnut stalls are the sweet potato kiosks offering delicious sweet potatoes to visitors eager to join in the tradition and culture. Panellets – small, round, sweet cakes – are sold in equal abundance and all these delicious ‘La Castanyada’ delicacies are washed down with lashings of luscious sweet Spanish wine.
The rationale behind such a wealth of ‘warming’ and ‘autumnal’ food is an embracement of the onset of the colder weather. Not that you normally need to be warmed by a nutritious plate of food in Barcelona in early November. As unlike the dark, damp and cold weather Halloween is synonymous with in Britain, ‘Halloweeners’ in Barcelona can usually enjoy this truly imaginative 2,500 year-old Celtic celebration under cloudless skies swanking explosive displays of stars as a tepid breeze from the Mediterranean gently wafts over a city absorbed in celebrations.
Although no festival in Spain is executed without its religious loyalty and many families in Catalonia commemorate All Saints Day with a family meal followed by a visit to the church to honour Catholic Saints. Many families then visit loved ones laid to rest in cemeteries laden with flowers and wreaths.
To find out more about ‘La Castanyada’ and other events held in the Catalonian capital visit: