Barcelona Apartments - Akaza Holiday Apartments in Barcelona

Semana Santa means Easter week and is the week where Christians celebrate the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. According to the bible Jesus died by crucifixion on Good Friday and was buried in a tomb. On Easter Sunday the tomb was open and it is believed that he rose from the dead. 

Semana Santa comes at the end of the 40 weeks of lent when it is traditional to give up something that you like, for example beer or chocolate to show willpower and discipline. The last day of lent is Easter Sunday, the day when it is believed that Jesus rose from the dead.

Being a Catholic country, many people observe the tradition of not eating meat during the 40 days of Lent, so it is custom to enjoy a meal with meat on Easter Sunday. There are also many sweet treats traditional to Easter such as Pestinas and Torrijos, small cakes made from sweet bread. Monas de Pascua is also a popular sweet treat in Spain, a chocolate figure with a surprise inside!                               

Spain has public holidays on both Good Friday and Easter Monday and there are big celebrations in every town throughout the country and especially in big cities. Because of this, many Spanish people go to their home towns to make the most of the long weekend, and because of this, cities experience a big ´leaving operation´ around Easter time. In Barcelona there are plans this year for a parade around the Gothic quarter on Good Friday (6^th April) and the annual city centre parade celebrating the arrival of Jesus into Nazareth on a donkey on Easter Sunday. There are also restaurants open and serving traditional Easter food.

This year Easter week falls during the 1^st-8^th April, with Good Friday and Easter Sunday being on 6^th and 8^th respectively. So why not come and join in the Easter festivities in Barcelona and stay in one of our Barcelona apartments? We can provide apartments to rent in Barcelona for 2-12 people in all areas of the city. 

The Barcelona carnival occurs every year in February and is organized by Barcelona´s Carnival commission. El Carnaval is a public celebration typical of Spain which takes place before the start of lent and usually consists of parades, dressing up and events throughout the city. The origin of Spanish carnival is thought to have come from pagan festivals where they paid homage to Baco, the god of wine, or alternatively from Egypt over 5000 years ago and roman times, from which the customs were then expanded throughout Europe by the Spanish and Portuguese explorers of the 15^th century.        

Carnaval is a principally Catholic celebration and is celebrated in a different way by protestant cultures, such as in Denmark (Fastelavn), where it is often referred to as Nordic Halloween.

This year will be the 103^rd annual carnavak with events throughout the city. Since the 1980s the main parade of the carnival celebrations was the Gran Rua, but this year it will not take place as it is no longer considered by the local government to be a traditional element of Carnaval. Instead there will be smaller parades in all central areas of the city on Saturday February 18^th.  

Another main event is the traditional sardine buying ceremony on Ash Wednesday to mark the start of Lent. Why not rent out one of our Barcelona apartments and join in the carnival fun? Check out our website www.akaza.net

Carnaval also happens in every smaller town and city around Barcelona. According to Guinness world records, the largest and most famous carnival takes place in Rio de Janeiro, but other famous Carnivals are those of Tenerife, Madrid and Venezuela. 

El aire de Barcelona

‘El aire de Barcelona’ or the ‘air of Barcelona’ is one of the city’s most famous spas. The spa is located in the old town area of Borne at the site where the defensive wall of Ciutadella was erected. It is built around an ancient Arabic bath which was restored by the spa’s founders.

The ancient wells which formed part of the water reserve system in the old city, also form part of the modern day spa. ‘Aire de Barcelona’ is keen to maintain an atmosphere of silence and soothing aromas so clients can fully immerse themselves in the centuries old treatments, from salt water bath to steam bath and massage on a warm marble surface.

The bath allows clients to immerse themselves in waters of different temperature from ‘The templarium’ (97˚F), into the ‘Caldarium’ (104˚F) and finally the colder waters of ‘Frigidarium’ (61˚F). This thousand year old technique of exposure of the skin to different temperatures has a beneficial effect on the skin.