How to properly bid farewell to 2023
New Year's Eve. A big show with almost 500 drones in Reina Maria Cristina avenue celebrates the entry into the new year with a chant to life and to the importance of marine resources.
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Holy Innocents Day, when a tragedy turns into a joke
One of the festival’s best-known features are its “llufas” (paper dolls), which, while on the wane these days, are still an icon. Even so, there are areas where practical jokes have survived, especially in the media and on social networks.
Why is St Stephen’s Day only celebrated in Catalonia?
Why is St Stephen’s Day such a firmly rooted custom here when it isn’t celebrated in the rest of Spain? The booklet ‘Celebrem el Nadal’ (Let’s celebrate Christmas), by Amadeu Carbó, has the answer to this puzzle and a good many more besides.
21 things you should know about cannelloni for St Stephen’s Day
St Stephen’s Day (Boxing Day) and cannelloni are two inseparable ideas: thousands of ‘canelons’ are made and consumed every 26 December! But this firmly rooted custom is loaded with myths, legends, arguments and technological innovations so it’s...
Christmas Fare
Arab-style desserts, medieval sweets, 19th century Italian imports and effective commercial strategies. Our Christmas fare is rich and varied, coming from a wide variety of traditions.
European Christmas Traditions
The Tyrolean Krampus, the German Christmas markets, the Scandinavian St Lucia choirs, presents appearing under a model ship in Greece, a witch who brings presents in Italy... Would you like to know more?
Santa Llúcia, the patron saint of eye doctors, dress makers and computer programmers
It's a custom in Barcelona to ask for the saint every, 13 December, for her protection against eye-related ills. Hundreds of devotees light candles in the chapel devoted to the saint in the Cathedral, a chapel that is flooded with light by the end of...
12 curious facts about the Santa Llúcia Fair.
The Santa Llúcia Fair is the oldest Christmas market held in the city and its long history has made it a key figure in dozens of stories, customs and curiosities well worth bringing together.
The nativity scene in Plaça Sant Jaume pays homage to Barcelona's residents
Christmas. Playwright and set designer Ignasi Cristià i Garcia recreates a nativity scene in Plaça Sant Jaume where tradition and digital techniques coexist, featuring characters like yourself. And it's not the only nativity scene in...
An Inclusive and Integrative Nativity Scene with Characters from Present-Day Barcelona
Nadal. Playwright and set designer Ignasi Cristià i Garcia recreates a nativity scene in Plaça Sant Jaume where tradition and digital techniques coexist, featuring characters like yourself. And it's not the only nativity scene in the...