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When studying abroad in Barcelona, there are several local celebrations worth attending. These include Semana Santa (Holy Week) celebrated the week before Easter with parades of biblical figures, Carnival celebrations in Tenerife with street parties and costumes, La Tomatina tomato fight in Buñol where participants throw tomatoes at each other, the Fallas of Valencia fire festival with giant figures burned in the streets, Festa Major de Gràcia in Barcelona with decorated neighborhood streets and human towers, running of the bulls in Pamplona during San Fermín festival, and Dia de los Reyes Magos on January 6th where children receive gifts from the Three Kings.

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172 views2 pages

SPAIN

When studying abroad in Barcelona, there are several local celebrations worth attending. These include Semana Santa (Holy Week) celebrated the week before Easter with parades of biblical figures, Carnival celebrations in Tenerife with street parties and costumes, La Tomatina tomato fight in Buñol where participants throw tomatoes at each other, the Fallas of Valencia fire festival with giant figures burned in the streets, Festa Major de Gràcia in Barcelona with decorated neighborhood streets and human towers, running of the bulls in Pamplona during San Fermín festival, and Dia de los Reyes Magos on January 6th where children receive gifts from the Three Kings.

Uploaded by

Paula Mhaela
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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When you study abroad in Barcelona, there are a few cultural celebrations throughout the

country that are worth looking into attending while you're in Spain!

Here are seven local celebrations for your list.

1. SEMANA SANTA

A religious festival, Semana Santa (Holy Week) is a big deal in Spain. It commemorates the
Passion of Christ in the Catholic tradition the week before Easter. Each region has its own
distinct traditions, but flamboyant parades fill the streets all over the country with festivities
beginning on Palm Sunday and finishing with dramatic processions on Maundy Thursday and
Good Friday. You’ll see life-sized floats of biblical characters being carried through the streets,
people walking with crosses or candles and religious spectacles throughout the week.

2. Carnival
If you want to celebrate Carnival in Spain, hop on a flight to Tenerife in the Canary Islands and
head up to the capital city, Santa Cruz. It may be small in size, but each February the island hosts
the largest Carnival celebrations in the world after Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. For two weeks,
you’ll find street parties packed with revelers in colorful costumes dancing into the earliest
hours, plenty of loud music to keep them moving and the vote for the carnival queen from a
number of contestants who show off their elaborate outfits. Watch for the Ash Wednesday
tradition, "entierro de la sardina" or the “burial of the sardine” during which a giant sardine made
of paper is carried along in a “funeral procession” and people dressed as wailing widows follow
along, pretending to mourn.

3. LA TOMATINA
The Valencian town of Buñol is bathed red with squashed tomatoes during La Tomatina on the
last Wednesday of August. Everyone gathers and an hour-long fight ensues, with tomatoes being
smashed before they are thrown to limit injuries. The yearly tradition happens in the town
square. It began in 1945, was banned in the 1950s then reinstated in 1957. While it was once a
free-for-all, it is now well-regulated and promoted by the tourism board. The mess, as you can
imagine, is unbelievable, but it is cleared away by fire truck hoses and, bonus—the citric acid in
the tomatoes actually gives everything in the an extra thorough clean.

4. THE FALLAS OF VALENCIA


For five days and nights in March, the people of Valencia are joined by visitors from around the
world for a continuous street party known as “the fire festival.” A bit of history: The festival
commemorates Saint Joseph, the patron saint of carpenters. In the Middle Ages, carpenters
would hang planks of wood to support their candles while working. These would be burned in
the spring to celebrate the end of the darker winter days. They later added clothing to give their
planks personality and everything unfolded from there into what it is today—the burning of giant
figures (‘ninots’)—often well-known politicians or celebrities. At 8am, brass bands and
firecrackers wake the city. Cue days full of processions, fireworks, and plenty of noise. It
culminates with the explosion of ninots that have been stuffed full of fireworks in the Plaza
Ayuntamiento, the street lights switched off and firefighters in position. The festival has been
included in UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity list.

5. ESTA MAJOR DE GRACIA

In August, blocks compete to win a prize for the best decorated streets around the neighborhood
of Gràcia in Barcelona. Each year there’s a different theme. High standards have been set,
creativity and originality reign and the competition is fierce with canopies of decorations
hanging above you between the buildings and continuing onto balconies. It becomes a week-long
street party and is accompanied by about 600 concerts, workshops, parades, and other activities
and events. Keep an eye open for the famous and impressive castellers who assemble themselves
into human towers. There’s an emphasis on community here and you’ll likely find long tables in
the streets so everyone can enjoy traditional Catalan food together.

6. SAINT FERMIN AND RUNNING OF THE BULLS


A rocket launch in Pamplona on the 6th of July marks the beginning of San Fermín, a 9-day
festival which includes its most famous event, the running of the bulls. Over 1 million people
attend what has become one of the most popular festivals in Spain, spread to the English-
speaking world through Ernest Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises in which the festival is central
to the plot. There are processions, traditional dances, and plenty of noise—especially during El
Struendo (“The Roar”) when people gather at the town hall and, for several hours, make as much
noise as possible. The festival culminates with the singing of Pobre de Mí (“Poor Me”),
candlelight and fireworks.

7. DIA DE LOS REYES MAGOS


Though Santa makes an appearance in many Spanish households these days, traditionally, it was
the Three Kings who brought the gifts—not on Christmas, but on January 6th which marks Dia
de los Reyes Magos, or “Three Kings Day”, also known as Epiphany. Celebrations begin the day
before with a parade re-enacting the arrival of the Three Kings. Children leave a shoe out for the
Three Kings and awake in the morning to find the presents near their shoe. Families gather to
share a roscón de reyes, a traditional cake for the day. It’s also known as a tortell in Catalonia.
Hidden inside is a fave bean and a small king. Whoever gets the king will have good luck for the
rest of the year. Whoever gets the bean has to pay for the cake.

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