Halloween & All Saints' Day in Spain 2026: What to Do

Quick answer: Spain does celebrate Halloween, but the real dates to plan around are the night of 31 October and All Saints' Day on Sunday 1 November 2026, a national holiday. The most distinctive things to do are La Castanyada in Barcelona (roast chestnuts and panellets), Samaín in Cedeira and the Magosto chestnut festivals in Galicia, the officially confirmed open-air Don Juan Tenorio programme in Alcalá de Henares on 31 October and 1 November, and the 680-year-old Fira de Tots Sants in Cocentaina near Alicante from 30 October to 1 November.

How Spain really marks 31 October and 1 November

Halloween arrived in Spain through films, schools and nightlife, and today every big city has costume parties, themed bars and children's trick-or-treat rounds. What makes the weekend worth a trip, though, is older than any pumpkin. All Saints' Day, Día de Todos los Santos, is a public holiday across the country, and the night before it has its own names and rituals depending on where you are: La Castanyada in Catalonia, Magosto in Galicia, Samaín on the Galician coast, the Noche de los Finaos in the Canary Islands, and in Castile the annual staging of Zorrilla's play Don Juan Tenorio, whose final act takes place among the tombs on this very night.

In 2026 the holiday falls on a Sunday. Check the official calendar for the autonomous community you are visiting before assuming shops, museums or transport will follow weekday hours. Expect cemeteries to be full of families carrying chrysanthemums, bakeries selling huesos de santo and buñuelos de viento, and chestnut sellers on street corners from Bilbao to Seville. Our Spanish festivals in November calendar lists everything that follows this weekend.

Barcelona and Catalonia: La Castanyada

La Castanyada is the Catalan autumn feast of chestnuts, sweet potatoes and panellets, small almond sweets rolled in pine nuts. The traditional figure is the castanyera, an old woman in a headscarf roasting chestnuts over a brazier, and between late October and 1 November you will find her stalls on the Rambla, around Plaça de Catalunya, at metro exits and in every neighbourhood. A paper cone of a dozen chestnuts and a roasted moniato costs a few euros, and a glass of sweet moscatell is the classic pairing.

What to do on the day:

• Neighbourhood castanyades. Barcelona's civic centres and casals run free chestnut roasts with music and workshops in the last days of October. Barcelona publishes neighbourhood events close to the date. Check the official Barcelona activities guide before choosing one near your hotel.
• Buy panellets properly. Pastry shops sell them by weight from mid-October; the pine-nut version is the benchmark, but coconut, coffee and chocolate are fine too. Order a mixed box in the Eixample or Gràcia rather than at the airport.
• La Pedrera's castanyera. Gaudí's house hosts a family treasure hunt with the castanyera on autumn Saturdays; book online.
• Montjuïc cemetery. The hillside cemetery runs guided routes through its modernist tombs and is at its most atmospheric on 1 November when locals come with flowers. Go in the morning and combine it with the Fundació Miró.

If you are building the trip around Catalonia, our Catalonia region guide and the Todos los Santos & Castañada festival page cover dates and background. Girona's Fires de Sant Narcís also end on 1 November with giants, sardanes and a closing fireworks display, which makes a strong day trip by train.

Galicia: Samaín in Cedeira and the Magosto

Galicia's autumn traditions combine Samaín, carved pumpkins and remembrance of the dead with the Magosto, communal chestnut roasts held around early November and San Martiño on 11 November. Cedeira helped revive Samaín in the 1990s, while Ourense and villages across the province are known for magostos with chestnuts, local food and new wine. Municipal programmes vary each year and are often published close to the date, so use the Magosto page and the Galicia region guide for context, then confirm the current town programme before travelling.

Madrid and Alcalá de Henares: Don Juan Tenorio under the stars

Since the nineteenth century Spanish theatres have staged José Zorrilla's Don Juan Tenorio around All Saints because its last act is set in a cemetery. The most famous version is Don Juan en Alcalá, performed outdoors in the Huerta del Obispo beside the Archbishop's Palace in Alcalá de Henares, a UNESCO-listed university town 35 minutes from Madrid by Cercanías train. The 2026 edition is the fortieth, on Saturday 31 October and Sunday 1 November at 19:30, free until capacity is reached, with Rubén de Eguía and Paula Iwasaki in the lead roles. It is a Fiesta de Interés Turístico Nacional, so arrive an hour early, dress warmly and bring a cushion. Full details are on the Ayuntamiento de Alcalá's Don Juan site.

In Madrid itself the holiday is quieter. Do the following:

• Sweets. Historic pastry shops such as Casa Mira on Carrera de San Jerónimo sell huesos de santo (marzipan tubes filled with candied yolk) and buñuelos de viento filled with cream or chocolate for the first week of November only.
• Cemeteries. The Sacramental de San Isidro, Madrid's most beautiful cemetery, offers guided visits in the mornings by prior booking; the night-time theatrical visits to La Almudena happen only in summer, so do not plan around them in October.
• Halloween nightlife. Chueca and Malasaña fill with costumes on the night of 31 October and clubs run themed parties; ticketed events sell out, so book by mid-week.

Madrid is also the easiest base for a weekend combining Alcalá with Toledo or Consuegra. Our guide to festival weekend breaks from Madrid and Barcelona has train times.

Alicante: the Fira de Tots Sants in Cocentaina

Thirty minutes inland from Alicante's beaches, Cocentaina stages the Fira de Tots Sants, an agricultural and livestock fair granted by royal privilege in 1346 and now a Fiesta de Interés Turístico Internacional. The official 2026 programme confirms the 680th edition. Stalls open on Thursday 29 October from 18:00, the official opening with the reading of the royal privilege is on Friday 30 October at 11:00 in the Plaça del Pla, and the fair runs through Sunday 1 November with more than 800 exhibitors, a medieval market, an Arab souk around the Palau Comtal, livestock and machinery sections, and a popular breakfast on the final morning from 09:00. Expect several hundred thousand visitors over the three days.

Go early on Friday for the opening ceremony and the quietest streets, eat olleta and pericana in a restaurant on the Plaça del Pla, and leave by mid-afternoon on Saturday when the crowds peak. Parking is at the edge of town; from Alicante take the Vectalia bus to Alcoi via Cocentaina or drive the A-7 in about 45 minutes. See the Feria de Todos los Santos page and the Valencia region guide for more.

Canary Islands: the Noche de los Finaos

On Gran Canaria, Tenerife and the other islands the night of 31 October is the Noche de los Finaos (night of the departed). Families traditionally gathered to tell stories about relatives who had died while sharing roasted chestnuts, walnuts, dried figs and anise liqueur or ronmiel, and children went door to door asking "¿hay santitos?" for a handful of nuts. Towns such as Teror and the old quarter of Vegueta in Las Palmas now hold public finaos with folk music and food stalls. If you are already on the islands for winter sun, it is a free and authentic evening out, and Tenerife follows it on 29–30 November with the San Andrés wine festivals.

What to eat this weekend

• Huesos de santo ("saints' bones"): marzipan rolled into bone-shaped tubes, filled with sweetened egg yolk. Castile and Madrid.
• Buñuelos de viento: fried choux puffs filled with cream, custard or chocolate. Everywhere, but Madrid and Valencia take them most seriously.
• Panellets: almond and sugar sweets covered in pine nuts. Catalonia, Valencia and the Balearics.
• Castañas asadas and moniatos: roasted chestnuts and sweet potatoes from street braziers. Nationwide, from late October to Christmas.
• New wine and queimada: in Galicia the magosto is the excuse to open the year's wine.

Allow one evening in any city just for a pastelería crawl; the sweets disappear after the first week of November.

Practical tips for 31 October – 1 November 2026

1. Transport may use holiday or Sunday timetables on 1 November; check the operator and regional calendar. Book intercity trains early; the long weekend is popular with Spanish families.
2. Shops and most museums close on the holiday; cemeteries, bakeries and bars stay open.
3. Weather: 14–20°C by day in Barcelona and Alicante, cooler and wetter in Galicia. Open-air theatre in Alcalá means 8–10°C by the second act.
4. Book Cocentaina and Alcalá accommodation now. Both are small towns; Alicante and Madrid are the fallback bases.
5. Halloween costumes are sold in Chinese bazaars and department stores from mid-October if you decide late.
6. Respect the day. All Saints is a family remembrance day; keep noise down near cemeteries on the morning of 1 November.

For packing by season see our festival packing checklist.

FAQ

Is Halloween a big deal in Spain? It is growing fast, especially for children and in city nightlife, but it sits on top of older traditions. The public holiday is 1 November, All Saints' Day, not 31 October.

Is 1 November 2026 a public holiday in Spain? Yes, 1 November is a national public holiday and falls on a Sunday in 2026. Check the regional calendar and local opening hours for your destination.

What is La Castanyada? Catalonia's chestnut festival on 31 October and 1 November: roast chestnuts, sweet potatoes, panellets and moscatell, traditionally eaten to remember the dead.

Where can I see Don Juan Tenorio in 2026? The best-known open-air staging is Don Juan en Alcalá, in Alcalá de Henares, on 31 October and 1 November 2026 at 19:30, free entry. Theatres in Madrid, Valladolid and other cities also programme the play this week.

What are huesos de santo? Marzipan "bones" filled with candied egg yolk, eaten around All Saints. Buy them from a traditional pastelería rather than a supermarket.

Are cemeteries open to visitors on 1 November? Yes, and they are busy with families. Visitors are welcome but should be discreet; guided tours in Madrid and Barcelona need advance booking.

Is the Cocentaina fair worth the trip from Alicante? Yes, if you like markets, food and livestock fairs; it is one of the oldest in Spain and only 45 minutes from the coast. Go on Friday morning to avoid the worst crowds.

Key dates 2026