Castañada against Halloween! Chestnuts against pumpkins!

I am the first who thinks that you have to be ready for changes; it is stupid to try to fight against them because sooner or later you have to admit them. You can’t be like Don Quijote fighting against the mills. World, society and people are in continuous evolution and we have to be ready for new changes in our future.
 

I know sometimes it is difficult to adapt ourselves, but unless you decide to live in a solitary island you have to get used to new things, habits and ways of living. And more now that technology it is so important for all of us.

I think in my grandfathers and I am sure they would have never imagined all the things you can do today with something so little as a mobile phone. You can say it is a small portable office. And I am sure that in 50 years life will be very different.

However, there are something that I think you have to keep alive. Especially, when we talk about traditions. As I said before, I understand that you have to get used to the technology changes but there are traditions in our society that we shouldn’t forget.

Today in Catalonia we celebrate the ‘Castañada’. Is a traditional holiday in where you eat chestnuts, sweet potatoes and a traditional sweet called panallet. I remember, when I went to school, that in the streets you could see people eating the hot chestnuts wrapped in newspaper. I even remember that once my friends and I did panallets for a party.

In the last years, and because of the American tradition, we are getting more and more things of Halloween. Shops and supermarkets have decided it to start celebrating this holiday and you can see special sweets and pumpkins everywhere and special offers celebrating Halloween. Today I am very surprised because I have seen a lot of children dressed up. When I was younger, I never got dressed up for the 31^st of October! Here we celebrate carnival in February and it is when young and old people get dressed up.

I understand that it is difficult to fight against the United Stated influence. We like to copy many things of them and there are a lot of people that like they live style. However, I think we should never lose our traditions. The Castañada is a nice holiday that should be celebrated every year. I think it will be a shame that in the future Catalans can't forgot the meaning of this day.

I repeat myself and insist that it is impossible to fight against changes, but we have to stay firm and preserve our own traditions. Now that the word independence is so common in conversations we have to remember those things that make us different and I can say that Halloween isn’t one of them.

I promise I will never celebrate Halloween and I always stick up for the Castañada. I prefer panallets and chestnuts than pumpkins!