In Barcelona, October 31 is two parties at once. La Castanyada is the Catalan one: roasted chestnuts, sweet potatoes and panellets (little marzipan sweets), with chestnut stands on the street and parties at schools and civic centers. Halloween falls on the same night, so many neighborhoods now mix the two, with costumes and haunted passages next to the chestnuts. In 2026 October 31 is a Saturday, so the whole weekend is open. Below are the family plans we have checked for 2026, from free neighborhood parties to the Halloween season at PortAventura.
Schools, civic centers and ateneus across the city host their own castanyades, where kids eat roasted chestnuts, sweet potatoes and panellets, the traditional foods of Tots Sants (All Saints). Many neighborhood programs mix the tradition with Halloween activities such as costume contests, face painting and panellet-making workshops.
Castanyoween joins two autumn traditions on one evening: the Castanyada, Catalonia's chestnut festival around All Saints, and Halloween. The shopkeepers' association of El Congrés i els Indians hosts it on Carrer de Garcilaso, with activities from neighborhood groups and stalls from local shops and restaurants. A haunted passage (passatge del terror) runs from 5pm to 10pm, and the cover band Trambólicos plays from 10pm to midnight.
For the Castanyada and Halloween weekend, Barceloneta's shopkeepers' association (ACIB) turns the neighborhood's stores into a trick-or-treat route. Kids in costume go from shop to shop asking for candy, the way Barceloneta families have done at the end of October for the last few years.
In 2025, about twenty member shops decorated for autumn and Halloween and handed out candy, and families picked up a map of participating stores at Plaça del Poeta Boscà. The 2026 city listing describes it as a trick-or-treat parade through the shops during opening hours; the route and participating stores for this year haven't been published yet.
An interactive mystery show for families, staged outdoors in Plaça Ferran Reyes as part of the Navas neighborhood's Castanyada celebration. Monet and Cirera love solving mysteries, and one rainy night they hear a strange noise in the garden and see something moving in the branches of a tree. It is no animal they recognize, so they decide to be brave and find out what it is. Sergi Perez and Maria Voronkova of Infestum Espectacles perform it as a mystery-and-adventure story for kids 6 to 12, mixing storytelling, music and audience detective work. Free hot chocolate and roasted chestnuts are handed out while supplies last.
Creepy Halloween Family takes over Poble Espanyol for six days, turning the village into a haunted one with 30 costumed characters, two mystery tunnels, live magic shows, games, a scavenger hunt and themed food truck areas. How scary it gets depends on when you go: the HAUNTED version (10am to 5pm) keeps the frights mild and is aimed at families with kids from about age 2, while the SCREAM version (from 5pm) turns up the intensity for kids 7 and over.
PortAventura Park runs its Halloween season from September 19 to November 15, 2026, and a big part of it is built for families. In SésamoAventura, Count Draco joins the Sesame Street characters in "1, 2, 3... ¡Ya es Halloween!", a music-and-dancing show made for the smallest kids, and Oscar hosts "Cuidemos el Planeta" about the 3Rs. In the China area, "Truco o Trato" is the park's first children's passage: families follow friendly ghosts through an enchanted forest of witches and fairies to a giant pumpkin, and kids come out with candy. The Halloween Magic Bubble show in the Temple Màgic fills the room with soap bubbles, the biggest about two meters wide, and every day ends with the Halloween Parade through Mediterrània. After dark, Horror en el Lago brings skeletons, fire, fountains and fireworks to the lake.
The five haunted passages (La Isla Maldita, La Muerte Viva, Angkor, El Carnicero de Penitence and REC Experience) are for older kids and adults: the minimum age is 12 with an adult, or 14 to go in alone. They are paid extras on top of park admission.
In Barcelona, October 31 is two parties at once. La Castanyada is the Catalan one: roasted chestnuts, sweet potatoes and panellets (little marzipan sweets), with chestnut stands on the street and parties at schools and civic centers. Halloween falls on the same night, so many neighborhoods now mix the two, with costumes and haunted passages next to the chestnuts. In 2026 October 31 is a Saturday, so the whole weekend is open. Below are the family plans we have checked for 2026, from free neighborhood parties to the Halloween season at PortAventura.
Schools, civic centers and ateneus across the city host their own castanyades, where kids eat roasted chestnuts, sweet potatoes and panellets, the traditional foods of Tots Sants (All Saints). Many neighborhood programs mix the tradition with Halloween activities such as costume contests, face painting and panellet-making workshops.
Castanyoween joins two autumn traditions on one evening: the Castanyada, Catalonia's chestnut festival around All Saints, and Halloween. The shopkeepers' association of El Congrés i els Indians hosts it on Carrer de Garcilaso, with activities from neighborhood groups and stalls from local shops and restaurants. A haunted passage (passatge del terror) runs from 5pm to 10pm, and the cover band Trambólicos plays from 10pm to midnight.
For the Castanyada and Halloween weekend, Barceloneta's shopkeepers' association (ACIB) turns the neighborhood's stores into a trick-or-treat route. Kids in costume go from shop to shop asking for candy, the way Barceloneta families have done at the end of October for the last few years.
In 2025, about twenty member shops decorated for autumn and Halloween and handed out candy, and families picked up a map of participating stores at Plaça del Poeta Boscà. The 2026 city listing describes it as a trick-or-treat parade through the shops during opening hours; the route and participating stores for this year haven't been published yet.
An interactive mystery show for families, staged outdoors in Plaça Ferran Reyes as part of the Navas neighborhood's Castanyada celebration. Monet and Cirera love solving mysteries, and one rainy night they hear a strange noise in the garden and see something moving in the branches of a tree. It is no animal they recognize, so they decide to be brave and find out what it is. Sergi Perez and Maria Voronkova of Infestum Espectacles perform it as a mystery-and-adventure story for kids 6 to 12, mixing storytelling, music and audience detective work. Free hot chocolate and roasted chestnuts are handed out while supplies last.
Creepy Halloween Family takes over Poble Espanyol for six days, turning the village into a haunted one with 30 costumed characters, two mystery tunnels, live magic shows, games, a scavenger hunt and themed food truck areas. How scary it gets depends on when you go: the HAUNTED version (10am to 5pm) keeps the frights mild and is aimed at families with kids from about age 2, while the SCREAM version (from 5pm) turns up the intensity for kids 7 and over.
PortAventura Park runs its Halloween season from September 19 to November 15, 2026, and a big part of it is built for families. In SésamoAventura, Count Draco joins the Sesame Street characters in "1, 2, 3... ¡Ya es Halloween!", a music-and-dancing show made for the smallest kids, and Oscar hosts "Cuidemos el Planeta" about the 3Rs. In the China area, "Truco o Trato" is the park's first children's passage: families follow friendly ghosts through an enchanted forest of witches and fairies to a giant pumpkin, and kids come out with candy. The Halloween Magic Bubble show in the Temple Màgic fills the room with soap bubbles, the biggest about two meters wide, and every day ends with the Halloween Parade through Mediterrània. After dark, Horror en el Lago brings skeletons, fire, fountains and fireworks to the lake.
The five haunted passages (La Isla Maldita, La Muerte Viva, Angkor, El Carnicero de Penitence and REC Experience) are for older kids and adults: the minimum age is 12 with an adult, or 14 to go in alone. They are paid extras on top of park admission.