TRADITIONALLY: THE CASTANYADA
Getting to know Barcelona does not only mean getting to know the city in its simplest form, but also getting to know its customs, its festivities and its culture.
The 31st of October and the 1st of November are coming soon. Dates when a popular traditional festival is celebrated: La Castanyada.
Its tradition dates back to the 18th century, when funerary banquets were held at the same time, where legumes, nuts and votive rolls were eaten. This banquet was symbolic and was celebrated in memory of the deceased.
Nowadays, on the 31st at night, the Castanyada is celebrated, where it is customary to eat chestnuts, sweet potatoes and panellets. This festival marks the end of summer and the beginning of autumn.
The panellets are sweets made from ground almonds and sugar, although in most cases it is also added either potato or boiled sweet potato. Nowadays a wide variety is made: coffee, chocolate, pine nuts, almonds, quince … Often these are accompanied by sweet white wine, called Moscatell.
We have to mention that nowadays the young people and the children have been adopting customs of the festivity celebrated in Great Britain, and popularized by the American culture, Halloween. Unfortunately this has caused that the celebration of Halloween has come imposing in our culture giving way to the fancy dress parties and the collection of sweets.
On 1 November All Saints’ Day is celebrated, where the deceased are remembered, the majority act that takes place is to go to the cemeteries to remember those who are no longer there, some people decide to bring them a bouquet of flowers. In Catalonia it is considered a holiday.
On these dates you can see the typical chestnut trees that sell chestnuts in the street wrapped in newspaper with a format called paperina.
All4Flat invites you to walk the streets of the city in the coming days and enjoy the atmosphere prior to the chestnuts that you breathe in the streets and be able to perceive the pleasant aroma of toasted chestnuts and taste their peculiar flavor. Experience the Catalan traditions!
All4Flat
