Todos Los Santos or All Saints Day In Spain

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This important national holiday takes place every first of November and Todos los Santos or All Saints Day is the equivalent to the Halloween of western countries. In Spain, this is a serious event where people from all over Spain flock to the graves of their deceased loved ones to honor them with prayers and flowers. This holiday means a lot to the Spanish as this is the day when they are given the time off from their work or school as this is not just the day when they go to the graves to visit their dead but also to celebrate this day for their personal patron saint. It is customary for Spaniards to celebrate their birthdays as well as for their patron saints because it is customary for them to be named after a saint.

The Feast of All Saints or All Saints Days is specifically meant to be celebrated for all the saints but it has become a day for honouring dead relatives. The people visit the graves or mausoleums of their relatives and they place elaborate floral arrangements and candles on them. The streets will be crammed with cars and people when everyone goes to the cemeteries. Flower vendors will take advantage of this day and peddle their wares along the streets and in other places. Some might say this is just another holiday but it is actually a day that is very spiritual and solemn for most people and masses will be held throughout the day.

Food is the common thread that relates all these festival together. All Saints Day also has special dishes that are associated with it and the most popular are the roasted chestnuts, panellets, and small almond cakes. The eating of chestnuts comes from the Legend of Maria, the chestnut seller or La Castanada and there are many variations to this story. The almond cakes originated from the days when small homemade cakes and offerings were left with the bodies of dead relatives. Another traditional dish is the "huesos de santo" or saint's bones which is made of eggs, marzipan, and sugar syrup. "Bunuelos de viento" or puffs of wind are doughnuts that are sprinkled with a lot of cinnamon and sugar. "El boniato" is a traditional dish from Catalonia that is made of sweet potatoes. Other traditional food are the sausages, bellota ham, and cheeses.

All Saints Day used to be celebrated on the 13th of May but both Popes Gregory the III and IV moved it to the present date which is November 1 so as to remove the pagan festival where Halloween was derived from which was also held on November 1. The ancient Celtics believed that it is during this day that the walls between the dead and the living disappeared and for the Catholic Church, this was initially a period of fasting and vigils in remembrance of the Christian martyrs and saints and it has now evolved into All Saints Day or Todos los Santos.