Spain's All Saints' Day: cemetery crowds, cut-flower sales and rising cremation

Cemeteries fill before the holiday

Spanish cemeteries drew large crowds on 31 October, the eve of All Saints' Day, as many families had moved their visits forward. The same pattern was visible during at least the two weekends before. Thousands more people are expected on 1 November, when families traditionally bring flowers to graves, niches and family tombs.

Flowers: a third of the year in one week

Growers on the northwest coast of Cádiz, Spain's main cut-flower area, say 30% to 35% of their annual business is concentrated around the holiday. Andalusia produces 80% of Spanish output according to COAG, on about 500 hectares, roughly 450 of them in the northwest of Cádiz, mainly in Chipiona, Sanlúcar de Barrameda and Rota. The Junta de Andalucía puts cut-flower sales at about 104 million euros in 2024, while its official registers list 587 hectares, a figure that differs from COAG's estimate. Luis Manuel Rivera, COAG's cut-flower lead in Andalusia, says this year's campaign comes with good forecasts after months of coordination between growers and marketing companies.

Cremation, ceremonies and music

Cremation was chosen for 60% of funeral services in Spain, and burial for the remaining 40%.

Cremation60%

Burial40%

Cremation

60 %

Burial

40 %

Data from the article text

Regional differences are large. The Basque Country has the highest cremation share, at 81% in Vizcaya and 71% in Gipuzkoa, according to the first-half 2026 balance of funeral group Mémora, the leader in Spain and Portugal. At the other end, Guadalajara and Soria each record 38%, where burial predominates.

Vizcaya81%

Gipuzkoa71%

Guadalajara38%

Soria38%

Vizcaya

81 %

Gipuzkoa

71 %

Guadalajara

38 %

Soria

38 %

Data from the article text

Religious ceremonies make up 84% of services, against 16% civil ones. Mémora's figures show wakes in 81% of services and a ceremony at the funeral home in 70%. More than 70% of services in the period were handled through insurance companies. Families are increasingly personalising farewells, with music the most used tool, including 'El cant dels Ocells', Ave Maria and songs by Joan Manel Serrat.

Disputes over family graves

Spain has an estimated 17,850 cemeteries, according to the National Association of Funeral Services, since no official register exists. Disputes over graves are common, and some of them end in court. Delia Rodríguez, director of Vestalia Abogados, a firm specialising in family law, inheritance and estate planning, says the rules are scattered across levels of government.

“The regulations are spread across state, regional and municipal provisions.”

She lists the most frequent family disputes: what to do with a body or ashes, whether to choose cremation or burial, and who should look after the remains. Exhumations are another flashpoint, for example when children from an earlier relationship and a deceased person's new partner disagree over where the remains should rest. Many people wrongly believe that the ground, mausoleums and graves belong to the family.

In one local case, in San Martín del Rey Aurelio in Asturias, a municipality of 15,531 inhabitants, residents mobilised against the closure of the private El Entrego cemetery as its owner neared retirement. After two years of bureaucratic wrangling, the council bought the company that managed the cemetery for 508,000 euros.

Florists and personal bouquets

The Asociación Española de Floristas (AEFI) expects sales similar to previous campaigns. Average spending per customer is estimated at 40 to 50 euros, depending on bouquet size and location. In areas where the custom runs deepest, All Saints' can account for up to 20% of a shop's annual revenue, while big cities give more weight to Valentine's Day and Mother's Day. Floristerías L'Art runs three shops, two in Coslada and one in San Fernando de Henares.

Lourdes Arnau, a florist with a studio in the Barri Vell of Girona, described the holiday on Ràdio 4's morning programme. Asked whether people still buy bouquets for graves, she said:

“Customs have changed, but people still take flowers to the cemetery for All Saints' Day.”

She sees less plastic in use now and describes her own style as natural, wild, sustainable and plastic-free. She says each bouquet should be designed around what it is meant to express:

“It is not about putting flowers together, it is about making them speak.”