All Saint’s Day, or Dia de Todos los Santos is celebrated in Spain on November 1st and it is the day when the Spanish remember their dead. It is a national holiday so many businesses will closed.
It is traditional for families to gather at the local cemetery to pay their respects to their departed loved ones . The tombstones and graves are decorated with an abundance of flowers in a huge variety of colours. Florists sell more flowers on this day than any other time of the year and it is said that Dia de Todos los Santos represents 20% of a florist’s yearly sales!! It may say morbid, but Spanish cemeteries are always well looked after and are quite beautiful but even more so at this time of year. There are 2 cemeteries in Manilva, one adjoining Manilva church and the “new” slightly more modern cemetery just of the link road to the motorway.
Now, being Spain, it wouldn’t be a fiesta without some sort of food being involved. Traditional delicacies eaten on All Saint’s day are ” buñuelos de viento” (puffs of wind!) which are like little doughnuts sprinkled with sugar and cinnamon and Huesos de Santo (Saint´s Bones) which are made of marzipan, egg yolk and sugar syrup. Local bakeries will sell dozens of these treats during the holiday period.
