What to do and how to discover Barcelona’s Easter traditions
Spain is a Catholic country, and as in all the Catholic countries, the Holy Week of Easter is a very important week for the religious people. Everywhere around the country there are celebrations and processions, in the small villages, just as in the big cities. If you don’t know where to go for Easter, Barcelona is one of the best places. In this post, we will show you the Easter Week and the related Catalan traditions, especially those of Barcelona.
Although in Barcelona, the week that precedes Easter is lived in a more modern way than in the rest of the Spain, like Sevilla, the Catholic traditions are still an important part of the culture of the city. These festivities are a good excuse, if you don’t know where to go for Easter, to travel to Barcelona during this part of the year.
The processions of the Holy Week
The Holy Week in Barcelona officially starts on Palm Sunday (domingo de Ramos), the Sunday before Easter. The tradition requires the godmother to give a special palm leaf to her goddaughter, as beautiful as possible, and if she has a godson, a palm as tall as possible. These palms are blessed during the mass, which is followed by a procession called “La Burreta” that commemorates the entrance of Jesus to Jerusalem. In the past, these palms were hung on the doors of the houses till the Carnival the following year.
The procession on Palm Sunday is the beginning of the Easter celebrations. During the week before Easter, there are many important processions from which the “Nuestra Señora de las Angustias” and the “Nuestro Padre Jesús del Gran Poder” are the most important ones. On Friday, they celebrate the processions of “María Santísima de la Esperanza Macarena”. In Barcelona, all these processions go through the Gothic neighborhood and Las Ramblas.
As we said before, the Holy Week in Barcelona is celebrated in a more modern way compared to other parts of Spain, so in order to get immersed in a really Spanish Easter, we recommend you to take the metro to the neighboring city of Hospitalet de Llobregat (part of the metropolitan area of Barcelona). Here the processions you can see are much more traditional and more similar to those you can see in Sevilla, since most of the population living there are immigrants from Andalusia. Here, the time seems to have stopped, and you can still see those hooded men who march on the street (just like in the time of the Inquisition). The most surprising is to see how they transport the huge sacred statutes, and some of the more conservative participants even march barefoot.
The typical food of the Holy Week
According to the Catholic religion, on Holy Friday, it’s forbidden to eat meat, hence, the typical alternative is to eat fish, and here codfish is the most typical. As you can imagine, there is no festivity without a typical desert. To celebrate the abstinence, on Easter Sunday the “Mona de Pascua” is given as a present, and people eat it on Monday. Some of these “Monas” are really masterpieces made of chocolate by pastry chiefs. There are all kinds of sizes and prices.
If you don’t know where to go for Easter, you will definitely enjoy the colorful events here.
Do you celebrate Easter holiday? Share with us how you live the Holy Week in your place.
Oh my god! That chocolat 😀 I wish to eat it, but also I could make it like that! 🙂 Really cool!
I can tell you, they are really delicious!
They look scary in the procession but it looks like a great time!
Yeah, they look a little bit intimidating.
Very interesting reading. I wish there was a similar guide about the Uruguay’s capital Montevideo. I have mixed feelings about religious celebrations. I remember how festive and colorful they were in Andalucia, but they could be quite an intense (and sometimes unexpected) experience for an outsider.
I haven’t been to these celebrations in the South of Spain, but I heard about their intensity. Thanks for commenting!
These “Monas” are a real peace of art…Some of them are so well elaborated that I feel like committing a sin if I eat them..:)
Haha, I feel the same, but I still eat them!
I come from a Catholic country (Dominican Republic) and I find it amusing how although its grounded on the same beliefs, the traditions may differ, like the clothing during processions and the food we eat
I would love to read about the Catholic celebrations in your country!
Wow the Easter traditions in Barcelona look great!
What I loved about this read is that it challenged my previously ignorant perceptions! I love learning about cultural traditions. The garments are interesting, and well-reflect the typically conservative Catholic state. In my family’s culture we too have a sort of Mona de Pasca. Great read!
It’s interesting that you also have some sort of a Mona de Pascua, I thought it’s really a local thing.
Always been curious about what it’s like to experience a traditional festival in Europe. Love how each place puts their own little twist on things! Definitely want to go next yr!
Hope you can come to see one of these festivals!
The Mona de Pascua looks like something I would love to indulge in! I’ve never seen anything that looks that before! 🙂
I can assure you that it is also very delicious:)
Wow, a little bit spooky looking but how interesting! There is so much more to Easter than chocolate eggs and once you start looking it’s fascinating.
Thanks for commenting!
Great post and stunning photos. Some processions look so scary! I love watching the traditions of other cultures and would love to go to a religious festival in Spain. Thanks for sharing
Living in Italy, that doesn’t really do that much (since we have the Vatican you think we would!) for Easter, I’m always so intriqued to find out how much other countries do.
They keep these traditions more in the smaller villages, in big cities there’s not much to see around Easter.
it actually looks scary… but a great experience.