La Castanyada, an All Saints' Day Tradition

Murky Origins

While some refer to the castanyada (or castañada in Spanish) as the “Catalan Halloween” because it occurs on October 31st, this centuries-long tradition is said to have roots in the Gaelic festival of Samhain. It is celebrated not only in Catalunya, but also in northern Spain (Galicia, Cantabria, Asturias), in Cáceres, Salamanca, Léon, Zamora and in parts of the Canary Islands. It marks the end of summer and the start of the winter months, and it honors the dead. Like the Mexican Day of the Dead, the British All Hallow’s Eve, or the American Halloween, the celebration is tied to All Saint’s Day (November 1st), which was the day the Celtic calendar celebrated the beginning of the new year. All Saint’s Day was officially adopted by the Catholic Church in the year 837, one of many examples of the Church incorporating pagan tradition into official dogma.

However, exact origins and the reasons for the consumption of particular foods that are consumed during the castanyada are unknown; three different people will probably tell you as many different versions of how the tradition began. Many say that the tradition of eating specific foods on the eve of All Saint’s Day comes from the typical fare of 18th-century funereal meals. Yet another version says that families stockpiled the first fruits of the fall season—sweet potatoes, chestnuts, legumes and the first wine made after the summer harvest—for sustenance as they stayed up the entire night before All Saints Day to remember their dead and commune with their dearly departed loved ones’ spirits.

Others will tell you that on October 31st, bell ringers would stay up all night ringing bells in commemoration of the dead until sunrise. Friends and family of the bell ringers would stay up to help, and everyone would partake of these high-energy foods to get through the long night. Traditions vary depending on the region, ranging from Catholic (attending mass) to pagan (purification and healing rituals), to gastronomic. All traditions include some form of remembering the dead—some families even set out plates of food for their deceased relatives.

Delectable Gastronomic Traditions

Every region that celebrates some version of the castanyada has its own variations on the traditional foodstuffs for this celebration. In Galicia, in addition to roasting chestnuts, it’s typical to grill sardines, which are a regional delicacy.

In Catalunya, a number of special sweets are typical of the celebration: castanyes (roasted chestnuts) and panellets (marzipan balls, usually covered with pine nuts) are the most iconic, followed by roasted moniatos (sweet potatoes), candied fruit, quince or quince jelly and ossos de sant (saint’s bones cookies). These are washed down with moscatell or other sweet wine, sometimes drunk from porrons.

There is a saying in Catalan: Per tots sants, castanyes i panellets!—“For All Saints’ Day, chestnuts and panellets!” Again, while the exact origins of eating these particular foods is unknown, it is said that while the chestnuts were roasting the night before All Saint’s Day, family members would say prayers for their deceased relatives. Panellets (which means "little breads") are rumored to have been left at the tomb or even buried with the deceased to provide nourishment in the journey to the afterlife. As these little marzipan balls are very sweet and do not spoil quickly, the food would last until the person reached the other side.

La Castanyada In Barcelona

Freshly-roasted chestnuts and sweet potatoes are hawked by street vendors all over town starting in early October and often into December—a dozen hot chestnuts are sold in a paper cone for three or four euros—and local bakeries and confectioners stock up on a variety of the other sweets, sometimes offering a raffle to draw in patrons. The figure of la castanyera (chestnut roaster)—an older woman dressed as a peasant with gloves and a scarf tied around her hair for warmth—has become a symbol of the holiday and sculptures of this traditional figure can be found in many towns and villages in Spain.

If you’re looking for something to do beyond stuffing your face with seasonal delicacies, there are a few public celebrations on or around October 31st that often combine Halloween fun with castanyada traditions. Can Ferrero Gardens offers a family-friendly castanyada, the Nou Barris district pulls out all the stops for over a week of festivities, La Pedrera hosts a children's Castanyera, brave the "tunnel of terror" in Trinitat Vella, check out the Wihelm Freak show at Tibidabo, and find fun for all ages at Barcelona’s Poble Espanyol.

Published October 24, 2021, updated October 23, 2023.