There are traditions that are not only maintained, but even reinvented without losing their essence. The Easter mona is one of the sweetest examples. These days, the city's pastry chefs are preparing to sell thousands of monas during Holy Week, reaffirming the validity of one of the great traditions of the festive calendar. Despite changes in format and increasingly sophisticated proposals —often considered authentic works of art—, the custom of giving the mona remains very much alive, and has even surpassed the traditional bond between godparents and godchildren, and today, friends and families also join the celebration.
Among chocolate figures inspired by famous characters —from Barça players to series and movies— and recipes that reinvent the most classic formats, monas continue to captivate young and old. Perhaps also because these traditions offer a space for calm and encounter in an accelerated present. This is defended by Miguel Zaguirre, president of the Gremi de Pastisseria de Barcelona, for whom Easter represents a perfect excuse to get together: "The Easter mona still makes sense because it gives us an excuse to meet and share a family moment, but even also with friends, since the tradition today goes beyond the bond with the godchild," he assures.
A living and popular tradition that, however, does not have a completely defined origin, but rather draws on various influences over time. Some look to the Arab world to find the munna, which meant "gift" or "provision of mouth," an ancient way of paying land rent with agricultural products and sweets. Others prefer to bet that the etymology of mona comes from the Latin word munda, the name given to Roman baskets containing sweets and decorated eggs that were offered to the goddess Ceres during the month of April to ask for fertility from the earth. It could even be traced back to the festivities called muniquias in ancient Greece, ritual celebrations dedicated to the goddess Artemis.
Although its origin is uncertain —or could respond to the confluence of several pagan traditions, later assumed by Christianity—, it is known with certainty, as Joan Amades states in the Costumari català, that the mona was already known by this name in the 15th century. At that time, eggs, considered symbols of fertility, were taken to be blessed before being given as gifts, coinciding with the arrival of spring. Part of these eggs, cooked, became part of this primordial mona, today called Cristina: a simple sponge cake, made with flour, eggs and sugar, in a round shape and with the cooked eggs intertwined in the same dough.
Chocolate in these eggs was not incorporated until the arrival of cocoa in Europe in the 16th century, from the American continent. It was not, however, until the 19th century that Barcelona pastry chefs began to replace hard-boiled eggs with chocolate figures, which crowned a sponge cake base with butter, fruit and feathers. Already in the 1930s, pastry chef Lluís Santapau began to elevate these creations to the category of monumental art. Since then, chocolate figures have gained prominence to become the central element of the mona as we know it today.
This evolution is reflected in monas that, increasingly, "are conceived as small works of art, where visual impact gains prominence without sacrificing flavor," as Zaguirre points out, celebrating that the temperatures of this Holy Week, celebrated this year at the beginning of April, allow working with even more virtuosity with chocolate pieces.
However, as the team at the emblematic Hofmann pastry shop reminds us, "tradition and innovation coexist harmoniously": thus, their offer includes both the most classic monas, such as Sara and Sacher cakes, and more original proposals, such as the new collection of Easter eggs inspired by contemporary art, without forgetting the Colomba, an Italian sweet similar to Christmas panettone and shaped like a dove.
There are even Barcelona bakeries, such as Oriol Carrió pastry shop or Brunells, that are recovering the most primitive mona: the Cristina, a sponge cake with intertwined eggs. In fact, the president of the Gremi de Pastisseria de Barcelona highlights that the duration of Holy Week allows both formats to coexist: "A Cristina to accompany coffee during these days and reserve the chocolate mona for Easter Monday with the godchild," recommends Zaguirre.
The icons of the moment, in sweet version
But the evolution of the mona never stops: year after year it reinvents itself to bring the icons and figures of the moment to the display windows of the bakeries, jumping directly from screens and social networks. This year, the K-Pop phenomenon and the figures from the Lego universe have conquered Barcelona's pastry shops, sharing space with classic modern characters such as those from Stranger Things or the endearing Stitch. But there is an area where chocolate awakens true passion: sport. Figures like Lamine Yamal, Raphinha or Aitana Bonmatí, along with the rise of the CAT phenomenon, Barça's mascot, make the crest and the players of the blaugrana team some of the most sought-after pieces this Holy Week.
Innovation, however, does not only consist of copying reality, but also involves reinventing it. This is illustrated, once again, by the Scientific Mona, an initiative of the University of Barcelona and the Gremi de Pastisseria de Barcelona to awaken scientific vocations. This year, coinciding with the year in which Catalonia will experience a total solar eclipse —visible for the first time in more than a century—, the protagonist of the sweet is MIA, a chocolate astronomer with a classic telescope, accompanied by the sun and the moon, which in turn pays homage to Assumpció Català, the first professional astronomer at a Spanish university. A mona that is not only edible, as it incorporates a QR code that allows children to discover the secrets of eclipses, the life of stars and galaxies, the evolution of the universe and the fundamental role of women in astronomy.
Parallel to science, another discipline has gained prominence in pastry shop windows: architecture, coinciding with the celebration of Gaudí Year and the World Capital of Architecture. Thus, the Gremi de Pastisseria de Barcelona —which this year is also celebrating its 125 years of history— has brought together ten master pastry chefs who, in an exercise of chocolate virtuosity, have reinterpreted the work of the modernist genius through ten colossal Easter eggs exhibited in the Hypostyle Hall of Park Güell, which this year also commemorates the centenary of its opening to the public.
Under the coolness of this forest of stone columns, visitors can admire how cocoa recreates the famous trencadís or the organic forms of Gaudí's salamander, thanks to the work of renowned pastry chefs such as Lluc Crusellas, from Eukarya Xocolata, internationally recognized and champion of the World Chocolate Masters 2022, or professionals from leading workshops in the city such as Bubó Barcelona or Mervier Canal.
Throughout the exhibition, named Gaudí en xocolata, visitors will be able to vote for their favorite egg. Through the votes, the visitors' favorite egg will have a second life in the Museo de la Xocolata de Barcelona, where it will continue to be exhibited, while the rest of the sweet creations will participate in the "trencadissa" on April 9, when the chocolate will be distributed among the students of the neighboring schools.
A stroll through Barcelona's workshops: the sweetest monas
Beyond Park Güell, Barcelona offers a sweet tour of its workshops, with monas that surprise both for their technique and their flavor. The first stop on the sweet route is the historic La Colmena pastry shop, where master Xavier Arévalo Muntané has won the award for Best Chocolate Mona 2026. His creation, "Jack Sparrot," turns a parrot into the famous cinematic pirate, accompanied by a treasure chest full of chocolate eggs. For its part, L'Espiga d'Or de Vilanova i la Geltrú has won the first prize in the traditional mona category.
For those seeking a more artistic and conceptual approach, the Hofmann pastry shop proposes this year the Earth collection. The establishment highlights that their proposal "is characterized by craftsmanship, high quality, and respect for raw materials," combining innovation and design. Thus, this year they present sculptures inspired by natural textures such as coral or rock, filled with a layer of praline, which become timeless pastry proposals and seek to seduce an adult audience that values edible art.
But Gaudí's art transcends the columns and trencadissos of Park Güell and also reaches Barcelona's pastry shops this year, inspiring various Easter monas: at Brunells, in the Born, they combine tradition and creativity in their offering, recreating in detail the Casa del Guarda of Park Güell in chocolate. In contrast, at L'Atelier the protagonist is the amphibian of Park Güell, with the Mona Salamandra, with which pastry chef Marianna Camps has won the second prize for the best chocolate mona.
For its part, at Baixas, the master pastry chefs have created dark and white chocolate eggs inspired by the colorful Gaudí trencadissos. Meanwhile, in Riudoms, Gaudí's hometown, a life-size figure of the modernist genius, a work by Adan Saez of the Xocosave pastry shop, has been presented. In this same vein of spectacularity, Pastisseria Escribà has decided to attract attention with its Mona CAT del Barça, a giant piece that after Easter will reside in the club's Museum.
Beyond CAT, animals are also one of the great protagonists of Easter, with diverse proposals that allow moving from the most minimalist animal forms ofJosep Maria Rodríguez at La Pastisseria Barcelona—where tigers, dragons, penguins, seahorses, and koalas are presented with a realism and detail that captivate the eye— up to the3D pieces by Lluc Crusellas in Eukarya,with figures like the dragon or the lion, created with the most advanced modeling techniques. Meanwhile, pastry shops likeMervier Channelcontinue to surprise with creative fusions like the "Mona Burguer", whileBubóbets on more current characters, such as K-Pop warriors or Labubus.