Chocolate cakes and processions at Easter in Barcelona

Easter is a great time to visit Barcelona, specially with children. Read attentively and discover what is going on! Easter in Barcelona begins on Palm Sunday. At midday, Christian families go to church and wait outside in their best clothes. Adults hold palm and olive branches, whereas children hold crafty palms. These palms are a present from their grandmothers. The priest gets out the church, welcomes everybody and blesses them. After that, the most religious families enter the church and go to mass. The rest go to a bar and have a drink with their families on a terrace, enjoying the sun and the mild temperatures. Children don't go to school during the Holy Week but adults work until Good Friday. As tradition says, meat is forbidden and Good Friday but few people keep up the tradition, so you don't have to worry. Besides, all restaurants in Barcelona offer tasty fish alternatives, specially different forms of cod; as well as traditional sweets which are only eaten at Easter, such as "pestiños" or "buñuelos". Andalusia is famous for its most spectacular processions and how they feel Easter time. If you want to see a procession, you don't have to travel to the south of Spain. In Barcelona there are two great processions on Good Friday, when the hooded penitents walk with crosses as a sign of sorrow for Jesus' dead. Penitents take off their hoods on Easter Sunday and participate in other processions to celebrate Jesus is not dead anymore. Moreover, families get together and eat sweet treats after the long lent. Although Easter finishes in other parts of Spain, Catalan people have another public holiday. Easter in Barcelona has not finished yet, the best day is yet to come. On Easter Monday godfathers carry out their most important and valued task. They buy chocolate cakes called "monas" and give them to their godchildren. These cakes were originally huge donuts with boiled eggs which were afterwards substituted by chocolate eggs. Monas are nowadays pieces of art that pastry cooks make for children and decorate with colored feathers, little chickens and other tiny toy figures. They represent buildings, places, stories and famous characters, both cartoons and humans. Children's favorites are cartoons and FC Barcelona players. There is a wide range of different monas and it is difficult to choose one. Therefore, godfathers have to meet a hard target: get the best and most suitable mona for their grandchild. These chocolate cakes are placed at the windows of their bakeries. There are different sizes and prices. So one of the top things to do at Easter in Barcelona is going window shopping and enjoy these crafty chocolate cakes which are a delight for your eyes.