Park Güell is filled with chocolate: the Easter cake exhibition you didn’t know you needed to visitBarcelona has an idyllic relationship with chocolate, almost as much as with its most iconic architect. Combine the two, and the result is “Gaudí en xocolata,” an exhibition that has just opened in the Hypostyle Hall at Park Güell and promises to be the center of attention (and cravings) this Holy Week.
From March 17 to April 9, the park’s Doric columns will not only support the Plaza de la Naturaleza but also ten edible works of art. This is a collaboration between Park Güell and the Barcelona Pastry Guild, which this year celebrates no less than 125 years of history sweetening the city. The concept is clear: ten master pastry chefs have accepted the challenge of transforming cocoa into figures that look as if they were taken straight from Antoni Gaudí’s original sketches.
The ‘Dream Team’ of sweets beneath Gaudí’s columns
These are no ordinary Easter treats. Among the participants are true “masters” of the trade. There is, for example, Lluc Crusellas, who holds the title of World’s Best Chocolatier (World Chocolate Master 2022), and Josep Maria Rodríguez, world pastry champion and the heart and soul of La Pastisseria Barcelona. Their creations, displayed in individual showcases, play with organic shapes, the vibrant colors of the dragon at the entrance, and, of course, the trencadís technique—but executed with such precision that it’s a shame to even think of taking a bite.
In this selection of creators, we find a perfect balance between the living history of Barcelona’s neighborhoods and the new global champions. On one hand, historic establishments like Brunells 1852, led by Miquel Chamorro from the Born, or the elegance of Lluís Estrada at Mervier Canal, bring that know-how of traditional pastry shops that are part of the urban landscape.
This display of talent also extends beyond the city limits, featuring the mastery of Lluís Costa from Vallflorida Xocolaters in Montseny, the precision of Natàlia Grau in Esparreguera, and the classic touch of Carles Carreras from Terrassa. The list is rounded out by names that are institutions in their own right, such as Ernest Ameller from Bubó, Adan Sáez from Xocosave, and the academic representation of the Guild’s Pastry School, with Saray Ruiz and Lluïsa Estrada leading a piece inspired by the gates of Park Güell.
You choose the winner (and the kids get to feast)
The best part of this exhibition is that it’s not just for looking at—it’s for participating in. Visitors can vote for their favorite piece by scanning a QR code found in the hall. The piece that wins the most public support will get a second life: it will be moved to the Museu de la Xocolata in the Born, so the rest of us mortals can continue to admire it for a little while longer.
But what about the rest of the figures? Here comes the moment any child (and not-so-child) would envy. On April 9, the “Trencadís del Trencadís” will be celebrated. Following the tradition of breaking the Easter egg, hundreds of students from schools near the park, such as Baldiri Reixac and Jesuïtes Gràcia, will symbolically break the pieces before enjoying a community hot chocolate party in the Austrian Gardens.
The trick to visiting Park Güell without paying (or waiting in line)
Even as tourism intensifies, those of us who live here still have the privilege of enjoying Gaudí’s work as if it were our own backyard garden—because technically, it is. If you have a Gaudir Més pass —the City Council’s system that grants free access to museums and monuments—you can enter Park Güell at no cost by reserving your ticket in advance on their website.
But if you’re the type who prefers to wing it, remember that residents of the surrounding neighborhoods (La Salut, Vallcarca-Penitents, El Coll, Can Baró, and Baix Guinardó) have free access with their resident card. In addition, there are the “Bon Dia Barcelona” and “Bon Vespre Barcelona” time slots—exclusive periods before the park opens and after it closes to tourists—when the park regains its original tranquility and is filled only with joggers and residents walking their dogs among the Doric columns.
