Halloween in Madrid

For a country that so famously likes to party, the Spanish do not have a great tradition of celebrating Halloween. Trick or Treat hasn't caught on yet (thankfully, in my opinion) and most children will only be drawing pictures of witches and pumpkins if they study English at a language academy.

But one group of Spaniards that has embraced Halloween is Spain's student population. Because everybody likes to dress up, right? Out of these costume parties Halloween is slowly entering the Spanish consciousness.

A couple of Spanish-language blogs I read, Todo Madrid and Madrid Me Mata, have written about what to do this year for Halloween. The highlights include:

• Semana Gotica de Madrid From October 24 to November 1 there is magic, concerts and other spectacles from the dark side.
• Dark Hole Where better for Halloween night itself than a Gothic club? Dark Hole, (on c/Mesonero Romanos, near Gran Via) is the place to be if you want the real deal this Halloween.
• Special Meal at the Amusement Parks The Warner Brothers' Park and the imaginatively Parque de los Atracciones are putting on a bit of a show to go with the feast.
• Scary Monsters Visit Faunia and the Zoo Aquarium for some less-than-human scary goings-on.

Read more about Madrid