How and where to celebrate Halloween in Barcelona?
The long-awaited autumn has arrived, a time when the trees turn brown, the leaves dry and the temperatures start to drop. And at this time of year, children are already preparing their costumes to go out trick-or-treating in the neighbourhood. It is also the perfect time to organise something with family and friends and eat the much-desired chestnuts. Take note of these scary facts so that you don't miss out on any of the sights during these long-awaited festivities.
1.- Visit the spookiest buildings in Barcelona: This is definitely a great plan! If you love to experience fear at first hand and you're crazy about urban legends, then this is definitely the place for you. One of the places you must visit is the Torre Salvana Castle, located on the outskirts of Barcelona. This site has a dark legend behind it and has been named "the Devil's Castle''. It was built in the 10th century as a fortress and some people claim to still hear cannon shots and swords. Another spooky place is the Balneario de la Puda de Montserrat or La Mussara.
2.- Experience Halloween in the Fairy Forest: This is a renowned café located in the heart of Barcelona in the Wax Museum. If you go, you will find yourself surrounded by a magical atmosphere, with trees, gnomes, goblins and other fantastic creatures. Without a doubt, it's a great place to go with friends or family and enjoy a unique atmosphere with some enchanted drinks.
3.- Ghosts of Barcelona and its night tour: If you are one of those who enjoy urban legends and believe in ghosts, this is definitely for you. You can take the tour through the fever page at the following link: https://bit.ly/3FQ24VT
The tour will start at the Arc de Triomf and then go through the most haunted streets of Barcelona. Exorcisms, haunted convents and much more.
4.- Halloween party at the Barcelona Wax Museum: The Barcelona Wax Museum has prepared a scary event. They will explain the pagan origins of the festival of the dead and you will be able to visit the museum. Get your tickets in advance at the following link: https://bit.ly/498Wuej
5.- Guided tours in the cemeteries of Barcelona: For the bravest of you, three municipalities in Barcelona will be offering guided tours of their cemeteries for All Saints' Day: Sitges and Vilanova i la Geltrú, in the Garraf region, and Viladecans, in the Baix Llobregat region. Along these lines, the Vilanova cemetery will be holding "The artistic soul of the cemetery'' on 23 and 30 October at 11:00 am. Then, on 24 October, the "Route of the souls'' will take place in the cemetery of San Sebastià in Sitges. Finally, on 7th November at 11:00 a.m. the visit will take place in Viladecans, under the name "the soul of Viladecans''.
6.- The village of terror in Poble Espanyol: without a doubt one of the most entertaining attractions during these dates. Every corner of the Spanish village will be dressed in terror and mystery from the 21st to the 12th of November, every weekend, it will host the Creepy Family and families will have to solve a game of clues and enter two haunted houses. For the bravest there is the Creepy Extreme version which will take place from October 21st to November 04th.
7.- Reject modernity, embrace tradition: There is always the alternative of not celebrating Halloween and instead celebrating the Castañada, the true traditional festival of Catalonia. This year there will be 41 licensed chestnut and sweet potato stalls all over Barcelona, five more than last year. Check the map with all the chestnut stalls at the following link: https://barcelonasecreta.com/todos-los-puestos-de-boniatos-y-castanas-asadas-en-este-mapa/ . There is also the alternative of eating Panellets, delicious sweets of Arab origin, but more Catalan than bread with tomato.
And how do you prefer to celebrate this date?