On Friday, November 1, Spain stops still for All Saints’ Day in remembrance of departed loved ones, after a night out before celebrating an imported festival.
Shops and services will be closed with the exception of florists as people pick up their pre-ordered bouquets and wreaths of flowers to visit the cemetery to tend to the graves of deceased members of the family.
Lunchtime is traditionally spent in family with a large meal together. Some families today prefer to book a table in a restaurant for the occasion, meaning most restaurants will already be fully booked out.
As with all traditional festivals in Spain, there will be specific sweets that are customarily passed around the table at this time of year. On All Saints’ Day, huesos de santo (or saints’ bones), a cylindrical marzipan snack filled with a variety of sweet fillings, is the most typical.
Bleary-eyed on All Saints’ Day after an imported Halloween
Many will still be a little bleary-eyed in the morning, recovering from an entirely new kind of party imported over the last 20 years from US Hollywood movies: Halloween has grown enormously to become one of the staples on the national social calendar.
There was a time still in living memory when the idea of dressing up as vampires or ghosts just before the solemnity of All Saints’ Day would have been unthinkable and tutted at as ‘just another US import.’ But now, for younger generations, the excuse of a dress-up party is at the forefront of Spanish minds at this time of year.
Costumes are typically based on classic horror themes, such as vampires, witches, or skeletons, rather than pop culture characters as in the US. As well, younger Spanish families are beginning to adopt ‘trick-or-treat’ as a tradition, especially in urban areas, international communities and blocks of flats. Given that the following day is a national bank holiday and schools are closed, it’s an opportunity for the kids to have a little later-night fun.
All Souls’ Day (Día de los Fieles Difuntos) follows on November 2. Although less visibly celebrated than All Saints’ Day, it is still widely observed, particularly by those who wish to remember departed family and friends. Catholic families often gather to pray for the souls of their loved ones, believing that their prayers help the souls to reach heaven. Many communities attend mass and light candles in honour of the departed, adding an intimate layer to the day’s significance.
