WDEC 2025 in Madrid

The 2025 Madrid Book Fair highlights Europe’s Cultural Routes through a special photo exhibition, featuring the European Cemeteries Route among others.

About the exhibition

On June 1, 2025, the annual Madrid Book Fair was officially inaugurated and will continue welcoming visitors until June 15 in the iconic Retiro Park. This year’s edition not only celebrates literature but also shines a spotlight on European cultural routes.

In order to give visibility to the cultural routes in Spain, highlight their European dimension, and showcase the work carried out by each route, an exhibition has been installed along the Paseo de Coches del Retiro. It features various panels dedicated to different cultural routes of the European Community. Among the displays is one representing the European Cemeteries Route, illustrated by the striking image of The Kiss of Death (one of the most photographed funerary sculptures in Europe) located in the Poblenou Cemetery in Barcelona.

This project aligns with the ASCE Week of Discovering European Cemeteries, drawing attention to cemeteries not only as resting places but also as open-air museums that reflect artistic, historical, and social legacies.

WDEC 2025 in Barcelona

Barcelona celebrates this year's WDEC with an intimate concert at Montjuïc Cemetery, alongside a collection of stories that hold special significance in European history.

Stories of Resistance and Remembrance

The Week of Discovering European Cemeteries 2025 commemorates the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War, focusing on 80 stories that brought people together and helped build just, peaceful, and inclusive societies.

In this context, Cementiris de Barcelona has prepared a booklet featuring the stories of four remarkable individuals buried in the city’s cemeteries — Lluís Companys, Concepció Badia, Joaquim Amat, and Enric Casals. Their lives, marked by resistance, artistry, and commitment, offer a powerful lens through which to reflect on the impact of war and the enduring importance of memory. The booklet also highlights a memorial dedicated to Holocaust victims, located at the Fossar de la Pedrera in Montjuïc Cemetery.

You can access the booklet HERE.

Concert at the Cemetery of Montjuïc

In addition to the booklet, Cementiris de Barcelona invites the public to a deeply symbolic event on June 5, 2025, at 7:00 PM, at the Fossar de la Pedrera in Montjuïc Cemetery. Attendees will experience an intimate violin concert featuring tribute music from contemporary ensembles. The evening will culminate with the lighting of 80 candles, commemorating 80 years of peace since the end of World War II — a gesture of hope and remembrance.

As space is limited for the concert, advance reservation is required. Full details and registration information can be found on the official Cementiris de Barcelona website.

Event highlights

Renewal of the Quality Seal for educational activities

Cementiris de Barcelona renewed its Quality Seal for educational activities with an Educational Project that was reviewed and approved by the Technical Secretariat of the Pedagogical Innovation Council (CIP).

Cemeteries as learning spaces

Cemeteries represent a historical and artistic legacy that is fundamental for understanding the social and cultural evolution of the populations that preceded us. At the same time, they allow us to better understand the present that surrounds us and help students develop a critical perspective on the world around them.

The social value of cemeteries lies in their representation of the collective memory that unites us as a society and in the understanding of death as a natural part of life. Likewise, aware of the link that cemeteries have with the territory that surrounds them and the people who live there, Cementiris de Barcelona collaborates with schools and districts to nurture a sense of neighbourhood belonging and respect for its heritage.

About the Educational Project

The Educational Project considers the various skills outlined in the school curriculum, aiming to provide pupils and teachers with additional tools to share knowledge and understand different situations from both the past and the present. To effectively address the needs of the curriculum, it focuses on specific competencies that Barcelona Cemeteries, as an organisation, is capable of contributing.

Firstly, the six vectors of Barcelona’s new basic education curriculum have been taken into account. These vectors are designed to foster a society that is critical, sustainable, digital, more equitable, feminist, and democratic. For this reason, three of the six vectors have been considered as the fundamental basis of the Educational Project: competency learning, gender perspective, and global awareness combined with emotional well-being.

On the other hand, the transversal competences of the new curriculum have also been taken into account, particularly civic competence, entrepreneurial competence, personal, social and learning to learn competence and digital competence. Of these, Cementiris de Barcelona's Educational Project includes citizenship competence and personal, social and learning to learn competence.

The Pedagogical Suitcase project at Barcelona cemeteries

In 2024, Cementiris de Barcelona has expanded its educational services by introducing the Pedagogical Suitcase project, designed to bring funeral culture into schools.

Offering educational activities in schools

Cementiris de Barcelona is an active participant in the ASCE Schools on Cemeteries project and a member of Barcelona City Council's Pedagogical Innovation Council. 

Since 2013, they have been offering educational activities in schools to bring pupils closer to the funerary heritage of the cemeteries, reflecting Barcelona's historical evolution. Over the last few years, these activities have been developed and adapted to meet the needs of the school curriculum. 

In 2020, as a result of the Covid-19 epidemic, they took a step forward by creating three additional activities, allowing young people to express the concept of death from an artistic and creative perspective through the study and research of cemeteries. During this challenging time, there was a growing need to naturalise death and break existing taboos, which led many schools to turn to their pedagogical activities.

Own educational project

Barcelona is a city rich in cultural and museum offerings, and the range of educational activities provided by cultural organisations in schools is wide and varied. In response to this, Cementiris de Barcelona developed its own educational project aimed at all levels of education. This initiative enables the development of a range of basic skills to complement school education.

The cemeteries of Poblenou and Montjuïc, listed as monumental cemeteries by the Council of Europe and part of the European Cemeteries Route, offer students the opportunity to learn about the most important historical, social and cultural events in the history of Barcelona and its most illustrious figures.

These programs also encourage a critical view of societies and their organisations, promote open conversations about death, and foster respect for artistic and cultural heritage.

Collection of Hearses and El Fossar de la Pedrera

Another of the outstanding spaces in which educational activities are carried out is the Collection of Hearses, a unique heritage site in Europe. Here, visitors can explore the evolution of funeral rituals to better understand the change in mentality towards the concept of death, as well as learn about gender roles within the funeral world, particularly focusing on the role of widows.

Additionally, within Montjuïc Cemetery lies one of the main memorials to the victims of Franco's regime in Catalonia, El Fossar de la Pedrera. This site offers an opportunity to delve into one of the most impactful episodes in recent history, the Spanish Civil War, raising students' awareness of the violence that can be inflicted by the state.

The diversity of activities and the historical and heritage value of the cemeteries have also attracted schools from France, Germany, Belgium, and Italy, who have brought their pupils to explore Barcelona's cemeteries.

The Pedagogical Suitcase project

In 2024, Cementiris de Barcelona has expanded its educational services by introducing the Pedagogical Suitcase during the current academic year. This set of pedagogical tools is designed to bring funeral culture into schools and address bereavement among younger students.

The activities are structured for classroom learning and can be followed by visits to the cemetery, allowing students to experience firsthand what they have learned in class and gain a deeper understanding of their role in society.

The goal of these activities is to help students engage with a reality that affects everyone equally, while understanding that, although death is a universal event, there is a great diversity of ways to approach and experience it.

Additionally, the program familiarises students with different religious traditions, encourages them to reflect on their own lives and values, and helps them develop better emotional management by exploring the range of emotions that bereavement can evoke.

WDEC 2024 at the Montjuïc Cemetery

Cementiris de Barcelona has organized a special exhibition which presents their efforts to mitigate environmental impacts.

The issue of climate change

This year's Week of Discovering European Cemeteries highlights the important issue of climate change through various events and activities, showcasing different ways in which cemeteries and their visitors can contribute to reducing environmental impact.

According to the United Nations, climate change refers to long-term changes in temperatures and weather patterns, which can result from natural causes or human activities.

The acceleration of climate change is driven by the emission of “greenhouse effect” gases generated by the combustion of fossil fuels. Adapting to these new conditions is very difficult for both nature and human societies.

Exhibition at the Montjuïc Cemetery

Cementiris de Barcelona has organized an exhibition installed at the Montjuïc Cemetery, which presents the initiatives they have undertaken to mitigate these negative effects and the measures adopted to reduce environmental impact. All visitors and schools participating in cultural visits and educational activities at the Montjuïc Cemetery will attend this exhibition.

In June 2024, Cementiris de Barcelona will hold a special conference to delve deeper into these issues. Throughout the year, they will also take this exhibition to most other cemeteries in Barcelona.

International congress: "Heritage, a shared responsibility"

From 9 to 11 November 2023, Cementiris de Barcelona participated in the international congress in Santiago de Compostela, Spain.

About the event

From 9 to 11 November 2023, an international congress on the topic “Heritage, a shared responsibility” took place in Santiago de Compostela, Spain. The event was organised by Hispania Nostra, part of Europa Nostra.

Under the slogan “Patrimonio somos todos” (“We are all heritage”), this congress sought to reflect on the protection and knowledge of cultural heritage. It focused on how cultural heritage can be used in a search for diversity and multiculturalism, a defence of democracy, a place of collective memory and personal reflection, and a defence of fundamental rights. Debates about these objectives were tied to the use of new technologies, and the importance of including the general public in the maintenance of cultural heritage.

Representing European Cemeteries Route

The representative of Cementiris de Barcelona, Adrià Terol, participated in a debate with the President of ICOMS Argentina, the General Secretary of AEPJ and the General Director of Cultura for the OEI. The debate focused on how European culture routes can be a source of social and economic development, as well as their effects on civil society.

Our spokesperson’s role was to represent the European Cemeteries Route, part of the Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe. With Barcelona Cemeteries as an example of how cemeteries are a part of a city’s heritage, Terol explained what activities are put on offer to the public or to research and education institutions, and how these activities help to create a better dialogue between cemeteries and the heritage they hold and the general public. There was also a focus on links to Ibero-american heritage routes, and how Ibero-american and European heritage tie into one another.

The congress was a good way to present our work, at both a local and international level, to a wider public, and to gain new contacts. The congress was covered by various media outlets.

WDEC 2023 at the Cemetery of Montjuïc

This year, Cementiris de Barcelona joins the Week of Discovering European Cemeteries with the 1st Orienteering in Montjuïc Cemetery.

About the event

The 1st Orienteering in Montjuïc Cemetery (Barcelona, Spain) will take place on Saturday, 27 May 2023, at 18:00. The organization of the event has been carried out in collaboration with COC, the Catalan Orienteering Club.

The race will take place in the afternoon taking advantage of the daylight and when there are no other visitors. Despite wanting to bring the cemetery closer to new activities and audiences, we must also guarantee daily services.

Orienteering requires navigational skills for using a map and compass to navigate from point to point in diverse and usually unfamiliar terrain whilst moving at speed. Participants are given a specially prepared topographical map which they have to follow to complete the activity in the shortest time. 

Monjuïc Cemetery, thanks to its size and intricate structure, becomes the perfect spot for an Orienteering. In order to maximize the number of participants, several levels will be offered. Thus, professional runners, beginners and families with children can be part of it.

Nothing like it has ever been done and it is a very original idea for exposing the cemeteries in a different perspective to all their visitors.

Registration required

The Orienteering is a free activity and prior registration is required.
For further information visit https://cementirimontjuic.clubcoc.cat/cat/

WDEC 2022 in Barcelona

Events in Barcelona (Spain) during the Week of Discovering European Cemeteries 2022 consist of the traditional Modernist Fair and some interesting tours around three different cemeteries in Barcelona.

Modernist Fair

Barcelona offers a leap back in history to the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century to walk around and enjoy its unique architectural and cultural heritage. The aim of the Modernist fair is to discover the city through the hand of an artistic movement that would end up forging the landscape and personality of Barcelona and its cemeteries, making it the world capital of Modernism.

Cementiris de Barcelona collaborates every year in this fair with workshops and activities for children that help to naturalize the fact of death.

One of these activities is Tree of Wishes. The purpose of this workshop is to offer to all the visitors the opportunity to write a positive thought on the leaves that will be drawn on the top of the tree.

Itineraries around Barcelona cemeteries

In collaboration with the Libraries of Barcelona, Cementiris de Barcelona have prepared a series of literary and historical routes through different neighborhoods of Barcelona in which classical and modern literature show us the other sides of familiar places that have often been forgotten. Among them are also three routes on cemeteries.

Art and culture in Sant Gervasi Cemetery
The Sant Gervasi Cemetery was founded in 1853 in response to the demands of a town in the process of transformation. In the mid-19th century, Sant Gervasi de Cassoles, a small country town, became a refuge for many of Barcelona's bourgeois families in search of a better quality of life.

We propose an itinerary through a cemetery of great patrimonial value, the sample of richness and taste for the art work on the tombs engrave the towers that are being built in the area. In addition, we will approach key figures of Catalan culture such as Joan Maragall and Lluís Domènech i Montaner, among others.

The Cemetery of Sant Andreu, the identity of people
The richness of its water and the subsequent strength of its industry made Sant Andreu de Palomar the most populated town in Barcelona. For this reason, it was the first to build a center adapted to the needs of a new society, following in the footsteps of Poblenou Center in Barcelona.

We propose an itinerary to follow the evolution of the Sant Andreu and the historical and artistic heritage that can be seen. Finally, we will visit the Cemetery of Sant Andreu, one of the most representative cultural places of the old town with its own character that we preserve today.

The Cemetery of Les Corts, the history of a village
Les Corts was a village with a small population living in farmhouses, which formed its physiognomy until the mid-19th century. The industrialization process changed its markedly rural character forever and the strong demographic growth transformed the town until its annexation to Barcelona.
 
We propose an itinerary in which we deal with the origins of the Corts and its evolution, and we do so by accompanying the most representative heritage legacy of the neighborhood and its cemetery. From the most important graves, we can connect with the old town of Les Corts and get to know the figures who were the driving force behind it.
 
In addition, we will also discover the Barça footballers who are also buried there, as well as the first Hebrew Enclosure in the city of Barcelona.

Series of conferences of Cementiris de Barcelona: Remembering Sabater Pi

Join us on the 26th of September and you will learn, from the hand of his son, Josep Oriol Sabater, and his grandchildren, the adventures of the one who discovered Snowflake, the famous albino gorilla of the Barcelona zoo.

The conference, which will take place in the chapel of the Poblenou Cemetery, will begin at around 6.30 pm after a guided tour of the cemetery.

The event is co-organized by the magazine Sàpiens and Cementiris de Barcelona and is open to everyone.



Reservations should be made in advance by calling 934 841 920.

Hour of beginning of the act: 18:00

Meeting point: Main entrance of Poblenou Cemetery

Celebrating the 200th birthday of the Poblenou Cemetery

The big day of the Poblenou Cemetery is approaching. The oldest cemetery in Barcelona 200 years ago and we want to celebrate it with all of you.

To pay tribute to this very special date and to open the cemetery even more to the city, on September 29th an event is held that arrives loaded with workshops, activities and performances. Added to this are the different events that the funerary enclosure organises throughout the year (dramatised visits, conferences, guided tours...).

You will find the program of the event at this link.

"The cinema and death" in Cemetery of Terrassa, Barcelona

The new edition of "The cinema and death" cycle adjusts its schedules to facilitate attendance. The Cinema Catalunya will host the screenings every Tuesday in April in a double session at 4:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

El cementiri municipal obre les seves portes per a la celebració d’un concert nocturn

El concert, que porta per títol “1 Piano & 200 Velas” tindrà lloc el 14 de juliol a les 22 hores. 

WDEC 2017 - Literary-musical Cultural act in Cementiris de Barcelona

Discover the star that shines above an immortal’s grave. Then remind of him properly, honor his memory and respect his whole past life. A book, a song, an idea, a voice, a play, a film, a picture, a sacrifice… by any art of living these people deserve the immortality.   

Night tour in Montjuïc Cemetery

Night tour in Montjuïc Cemetery (Barcelona). On the 23rd March Cementiris de Barcelona organise a night tour in Montjuïc Cemetery.

Instagram contest in Poblenou Cementery night tour

Next Wednesday 26th October Cementiris de Barcelona invite you to the night tour in Poblenou Cemetery.

Cementiris de Barcelona actively participates in the Modernist Fair

At Cementris de Barcelona we try to be an active member of the cultural events in the city.

Memorial Concert at the Cemetery Montjuïc in Barcelona

We are giving you an opportunity to get the last available places to attend the Memorial Concert.

Guided tour at Les Corts Cemetery (Barcelona, Spain)

CBSA has organized a free guided tour at Les Corts Cemetery, that will take place on Saturday, 6th of February 2016, at 11:00 AM.

Municipal Cemetery of the Capuchins (Mataró, Barcelona)

The Catholic cemetery of the Capuchins began to provide services in 1817 and today consist of 13.612 graves.

About the cemetery

The Catholic cemetery of the Capuchins (Cementiri Municipal dels Caputxins) began to provide services in 1817, when members of the Board of Works of Santa Maria started to be buried at the top of the convent’s grounds. This area was then purchased by the Capuchin community in 1820. The rest of the estate of the Capuchins (including the ruins of the convent, abandoned because of the fire in 1835), was expropriated by the state and auctioned in 1844 as a “Bé Nacional” (National asset) where it was purchased by the Board of Works of Santa Maria. The same year, Miquel Garriga i Roca designed a new cemetery and a few years later, in 1876, the construction started. The new cemetery was located next to Catholic cemetery (recognized as the Protestant or Spiritualists cemetery). In 1982, the Catholic Church offered both cemeteries to the City Hall, which were then merged under the name Municipal Cemetery of the Capuchins.

Basic data

The Cemetery of the Capuchins is a municipal and civil cemetery, owned by the Mataró City Hall (Spain), managed by Cementiris Metropolitans CGC, S.L. and protected by the Local cultural heritage for the Government of Catalonia. It extends on the surface of 34.243 m² and holds 13.612 graves, of which 61 Pantheons, 56 Tombs and 13.497 Niches. The deceased are mainly Catalans of catholic religion.

Important graves and monuments

Some of the graves and monumenst on Municipal Cemetery of the Capuchins with historical and cultural meanings are:

• Josep Puig i Cadafalch: He was born in Mataró and he was a “modernista” architect, the Catalan Art Nouveau, who designed many significant buildings in Barcelona like Casa Amatller, near the Casa Batlló, one of the most important buildings designed by Antoni Gaudí. Josep Puig i Cadafalch was the President of the Commonwealth of Catalonia (1917-24). He died in 1956 in Barcelona.
• Miquel Biada i Bunyol: He founded in 1848 the first railway line in the Iberian Peninsula and that connected Barcelona with Mataró. However, he died 6 month before the inauguration so he couldn’t see his work.
• Pantheon Marfà - Mesquera: Pantheon designed by Emili Cabanyes, 1906.
• Josep Castellà i Vilà: He was a boat captain who transported people to New York, Cuba and Mexico during the war between Spain and USA. He repatriated soldiers after de Cuba’s war. He died in 1916 in Barcelona.
• Domènec Rovira i Castellà: He was a young musician, an excellent pianist and the director of the Municipal Band of Mataró (1939-1944). He died in 1944, when he was 31 years old.
• Tomb of the International Brigades:  Monument in memory for the international brigades that fought against fascism and dead in Mataró during the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939).
• Eugeni Pere Cendoya Oscoz: He was an important architect and disciple of Lluís Domènech i Montaner, who was highly influential on “Modernisme català”, the Catalan Art Nouveau. He died in 1975 in Barcelona. The sculptor was Frederic Marès, a famous sculptor who was made a lot of urban sculptures in Barcelona.

*Photo source: www.cementeriosvivos.es

Cemetery address

Carretera de Cirera, 239,
08304 Mataró
Barcelona
Spain

Contacts

Tel: +34 93 7574767
Fax: +34 93 7986905
Email: administracio@cementirismetropolitans.com

WDEC 2015 - Literary-musical Cultural act in Cementiris de Barcelona

This event is a tribute to the poets and writers buried in the cemeteries of Barcelona.