Asking yourself what to do during Halloween in Barcelona? The Catalan capital is ready for everything and it offers a lot of options to enjoy this traditional date in different ways. A lot of locals are waiting for this celebration to enjoy with friends and family.
Firstly, let’s get back to basics or better say to some ages ago when the story has begun. To tell the truth, Halloween that you used to see around the world, here in Barcelona and generally in Spain was adapted years ago. Moreover, it works, actually. On the other hand, there is another curious tradition behind it. During years, November 1 is the day most of Catalans are waiting for. It used to be a red day in the calendar and yes, it is a Day of All Saints or also known as the Day of the Dead (we prefer the first one). Moreover, for local people it means they can celebrate La Castanyada. It is a traditional festival actually takes place not only in Catalonia but also in many parts of northern Spain. La Castanyada is nothing but the chestnut party that many of you already know.
The days and nights eating chestnuts, which starts from October to February. Some days before the celebration, it is common to see sellers at street stalls, toasting the dried fruit of chestnut and then wrapping them in a piece of paper. In addition to chestnut the celebration consists in eating roasted boniatos (sweet potatoes), panellets (traditional Catalan almond balls) and drinking moscatell – a variety of sweet wine that comes from the muscatel ripe grapes.
As you can see, there are some differences between the American Halloween and the celebration of Halloween in Barcelona. We just try to inspire you to go out and dress up without neglecting the famous Castanyada.
