Snacking is not in fashion

No, snacking is not in fashion. Brunch, aperitifs, or afterwork are, but the afternoon snack has fallen a bit out of favor. People no longer meet for an afternoon snack. As if eating something in the mid-afternoon were only for children or old people.

Because children do have afternoon snacks. They need fuel for so much activity. I don't know what today's children eat. When I was little, bread with Nocilla, fuet or La Piara pâté sandwiches, Phoskitos, and bollycaos reigned supreme.

I suppose the afternoon snack is also associated with old people because generally they are the ones who have time to spend the afternoon in cafes and bakeries, chatting with friends while dipping sponge cakes and ensaimadas in cups of hot chocolate or lattes.

Beyond having or not having time, I suspect that one of the reasons why the afternoon snack is in crisis is, precisely, that many people associate it with the intake of sweets and perceive it as the least important meal of the day. Almost as if it were a whim. Or a sin. Nutrition experts always talk about the importance of having a good breakfast to start the day ---they usually don't say anything about snacking---. They also warn about the dangers of abusing sugar, the devil.  So the afternoon snack gets hit from all sides. Many people skip it directly and, consequently, catering establishments don't give it any importance either.

Beyond having or not having time, I suspect that one of the reasons why the afternoon snack is in crisis is, precisely, that many people associate it with the intake of sweets and perceive it as the least important meal of the day. Almost as if it were a whim. Or a sin.

It occurs to me that it would be fantastic if the city's hotels promoted the recovery of snack time. They could be inspired by the "afternoon tea" of their British colleagues ---in that of combining tradition and modernity, the British are true masters---. A few years ago, during a trip to Hong Kong ---a former colony, as everyone knows, of the British Empire---, I was invited to tea at the elegant The Peninsula hotel. The luxurious lobby of the establishment ---once reserved for the select colony of British expatriates--- could not have been more crowded: groups and more groups of people talking animatedly while drinking cups of tea served with all the pomp by waiters who also brought out three-tiered silver trays with the inevitable small cucumber sandwiches, scones, and sweet pastries. A whole social event.

Could we do something similar in Barcelona? Let's make the afternoon snack fashionable!