How to celebrate Halloween in Madrid or maybe I should say Día de los Muertos? You see, up until a few years ago Halloween was just a foreign festivity for us. Traditionally, the 1st of November is the Day of the Dead (Día de los Difuntos) and that's what we celebrate in Spain but nowadays Halloween is everywhere... As an ESL teacher I have to teach my students about it, but I'm not fond of it. I don't like zombies, graveyards or anything of the sort. However, there are some interesting activities going on in Madrid that I want to tell you about.
Halloween vs First of November
As I said, what we celebrate here is Día de todos los Santos or Día de los Difuntos which takes place the day after Halloween. On this day, we honor those who have passed on. People visit cemeteries and leave flowers on the graves of loved ones. Later in the day families gather and have traditional sweets like huesos de santo (bone-shaped marzipan) and panellets (made from almond and pine nuts).Those who celebrate Halloween here have kept the scariest side of it. I've seen Halloween in Ireland and California while I was living there and I remember seeing people dressing up in both scary and non-scary costumes whereas in Spain you will see most people dressed up as something dead or horrific. That's probably because we have another festivity to dress up Carnaval (carnival). Trick or treating is not very popular but more and more kids are doing it every year.
How to celebrate Halloween in Madrid
Personally, I'm going to make these delicious chocolate peanut butter bars and watch a movie -but not a horror one- with my husband at home. Now, I know that some of you feel like me about Halloween but others love it so here you will find something for everyone.- Casa de Mexico in Madrid was inaugurated in October 2018 and they promoted it with these beautiful sculptures of Catrinas, an icon of the Mexican Día de Muertos, in Plaza Mayor. Let's see what they have in store for us this year! You can also visit Casa de Mexico -they also did a wonderful job decorating the building- to see the altar and check out their activities for Halloween this year. Casa de Mexico is in Calle Alberto Aguilera, 20.
- My favorite healthy restaurant, Elektra offers a Halloween themed girls night out plan: manicure, cocktail and cake for 15€ from 7pm to 10pm on the 31st. Reservations: +34 912 54 59 11.
- Dinner + Escape Room with Enigmatium Room. The game starts during the meal where you have to find answers to some questions which will be the clues to leave the room. You have to be quick, you only get 60 minutes.
- See Madrid in a different way with a ghost tour: La Noche de los Espíritus. Find out about murders, haunted places and paranormal activity in different palaces, manors and streets of the city.
- If you don't mind leaving the city, Warner Bros Park offers lots of Halloween activities until November 3 including scar zones and terrifying passages. Parque de Atracciones and the Madrid Zoo will also be hosting multiple Halloween themed events.
- Día de los Muertos (day of the death) in Palacio de Linares. A housekeeper, a butler and a marquis will guide you in this nocturnal visit to a magnificent 19th century palace. An hour of mystery, secrets and legends told by characters coming from the afterlife. The palace is actually believed to be haunted and the dramatized visit takes place the first Saturday of every month all year round -apart from the Halloween special performance- and it's totally worth it. I went with some friends a few months ago and we had so much fun!
- Time Out suggests visiting these abandoned historical buildings which sounds like a great plan.
- Go on a photography tour. Well, this one is my own suggestion. I took these photos walking around Madrid searching for Halloween decor. Taking my camera and exploring the city is one of my favorite things to do. Madrid has so much to offer for photography lovers!
Now tell me, how are you celebrating Halloween?
CUTE DECOR IDEAS
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