Tots Sants in Valencia: Huesos de Santo, Buñuelos and the Real 1 November

Ask a visitor what Valencia does on 1 November and they will say Halloween. Ask a Valencian grandmother and she will say Tots Sants, and then tell you exactly how many buñuelos you are supposed to eat. This year All Saints falls on Sunday 1 November, right after a Saturday-night Halloween, so the city does something unusual: it parties and then, a few hours later, goes quiet and sweet. Here is what actually happens, and what to put in your mouth.

What Tots Sants Really Is

Tots Sants is a public holiday, and it is not a party. Families visit the cemetery, bring flowers (mostly chrysanthemums) and spend the day together. The Cementerio General is busy and the florists around it do their year in a few days. It is respectful rather than gloomy: people chat, tidy graves and then go for lunch. If you are a visitor, treat it like a Sunday with the volume turned down. Do not turn up at a cemetery to take photos.

The practical consequence is that on Sunday 1 November many shops and smaller businesses are shut or on Sunday hours, and plenty of restaurants fill with family lunches that book out days ahead. Reserve if you want a proper table. For the Saturday-night side of things, our Halloween nightlife guide has you covered.

The Sweets You Cannot Skip

This is the real reason to care about the date. The bakeries put out a seasonal lineup that appears in the last week of October and vanishes soon after:

• Huesos de santo ("saints' bones"): thin tubes of marzipan filled with sweet egg-yolk cream. They look like something from a crime scene and taste like pure sugar. One is a treat, two is a commitment.
• Buñuelos de calabaza: pumpkin fritters, deep-fried and rolled in sugar. In Valencia they belong to Fallas as much as to autumn, which is why locals have strong opinions about the best ones. Eat them warm or do not bother.
• Panellets: small balls of almond paste rolled in pine nuts, coconut or almond. Strictly speaking a Catalan tradition, but you will find them in every decent pastelería here now.
• Boniatos asados: roast sweet potatoes, the old street-corner snack of the season. If you spot a vendor with a smoking cart, buy one and burn your fingers on it.

For the wider seasonal picture, see our autumn food guide.

How to Buy Them Like a Local

Go to a traditional bakery rather than a supermarket, and go early. Seasonal trays sell out by lunchtime on the 31st and the 1st. Order by weight or by the unit (media docena is the polite way to start), and ask what was made that morning. Prices vary a lot from shop to shop, so do not be shy about comparing two or three bakeries in the same barrio. The Mercado Central is a good place to browse around stalls and neighbouring pastry shops, and the neighbourhood markets are better still for finding a bakery the locals actually use.

Pair It With a Drink

Sweet egg yolk and almond paste are heavy, so do what everyone does: pair them with something strong or bitter. A small glass of mistela or sweet wine works, and so does a strong coffee. If you want to stay in the spirit, a cremaet (Valencia's rum, coffee and cinnamon drink) at a bar in the old town does the job. For something more modern, our wine bars guide has places that will happily serve a dessert wine with your bakery haul.

A Sunday Plan That Works

If you only have one day, here is how to use it:

1. Morning: buy your sweets before 11am, ideally for the family lunch you were invited to or the picnic you are about to improvise.
2. Lunch: a long, late meal. Rice dishes are the natural fit, and our paella guide explains where not to go.
3. Afternoon: a walk through the Turia gardens or a slow coffee. Plan this around the fact that days are now short, with dusk around 6pm after the clock change.
4. Evening: low-key. Most bars are open but quieter than a normal Sunday, so it is a good night for a vermut and a long chat. See our vermut culture guide.

The Bottom Line

Halloween is the party; Tots Sants is the part that tells you where you really are. Eat the huesos de santo, try a buñuelo while it is still hot, and be gentle on the Sunday. For everything else going on this autumn, see our November guide and the October events guide.