Els Tres Tombs is a cavalcade of horses, mules and donkeys pulling carriages through the centre of Barcelona in honour of Sant Antoni Abat, patron saint of animals. It sets off on the Saturday after 17 January, and on the Ronda de Sant Pau the animals are blessed in front of the Escola Pia de Sant Antoni. In 2025 it turned two hundred.
One Saturday in January, the centre of Barcelona fills with horseshoes. Horses, mules and donkeys pull carriages between the Paral·lel and the Rambla, sweets are thrown down from above and, in front of a school, the animals are blessed. It's the Tres Tombs cavalcade, in honour of Sant Antoni Abat, patron saint of animals, and in 2025 it turned two hundred. For anyone spending the winter in the city, it's one of those mornings that show you how things used to be.
To live in Barcelona for a while: Stylish Loft 4 Expats @ Barcelona · Loft 1 →
A saint with a pig
Sant Antoni Abat lived between the 3rd and 4th centuries and died on a 17 January, the day chosen for his feast. He is the patron saint of animals, especially hoofed ones. The legend recorded by the City Council says he healed an injured piglet that from then on never left his side; that's why he is painted with a pig.
The guilds that went round three times
The Gran Enciclopèdia Catalana describes the original cavalcade as a guild affair: the mule hirers, the sea carters and the bastaixos de capçana. On the Sunday before the feast, the honour of carrying the banner was auctioned. On the saint's day, the procession set out from the banner-bearer's house with three riders in front and the banner-bearer between two cord-bearers, visited the authorities and had itself blessed, riders and mounts, at the church of Sant Antoni.
Afterwards, the best rider reared his horse up on its hind legs and made it turn three times, and the whole procession went three times round the church's block: the tres tombs, the three turns. The custom, the encyclopedia says, was alive until the first third of the 19th century.
Two hundred years
The City Council dates the current cavalcade back to at least 1825, around the old Portal de Sant Antoni Abat, which ended up giving its name to that part of the city. That is why 2025 was the bicentenary year, with the cavalcade on Saturday 18 January.
On 3 May 2025 Barcelona also hosted the 28th Trobada Nacional dels Tres Tombs: according to betevé, 95 towns, more than 70 carriages, some 200 horses and some 600 carters. That day a horse died in the middle of the street, of causes that were not known, and the organisers changed the route; animal-rights groups denounced the stress the animals suffer. It's only fair to mention it, because animal welfare is now part of the conversation about this festival.
What you see today
The cavalcade sets off on the Saturday after 17 January; if the 17th falls on a Saturday, it moves to the following week. The carriages gather on Montjuïc and the musical parade starts mid-morning. At the head are the lancers and the band of the mounted Guàrdia Urbana; then come a float with the image of the saint and seventeen riders, with the banner-bearer and his two cord-bearers at the front. Behind them come horses, donkeys and mules with the associations' carriages, and sweets for the crowd. Any association or individual can take part.
The route always passes along the Ronda de Sant Pau, where the animals are blessed in front of the Escola Pia de Sant Antoni, and heads for Plaça de Sant Jaume, where the city councillors receive it. At the start 150 doves are released, one for each wish addressed to the saint. And since 2013 the pig raffle has been back, with prizes donated by the area's pork butchers, which, according to the City Council, revives a custom from some two hundred years ago linked to raising money for the Hospital de Sant Llàtzer. What there no longer is, the same source warns, are the three turns that give the festival its name.
In 2026, in May
The weather has its say too. In 2026 the cavalcade, planned for January, was postponed because of rain and to guarantee the animals' welfare, and it went out on Saturday 16 May: it was the 201st edition. It passed along the Paral·lel, the rondas, Plaça de la Universitat, Pelai and the Rambla, and the giants of Sant Antoni danced before the opening proclamation in front of the Escola Pia.
For anyone spending January in Barcelona
The cavalcade is part of a cycle of winter festivities that the City Council grouped under the name Sant Antoni, Els Tres Tombs, with events throughout January: in 2019 it ran from the 11th to the 26th, from the Tradicionàrius festival to the Foguerons, and everything was free. It isn't the only cavalcade in the city: the one in Sant Andreu had ninety-two years of history in 2019.
The exact dates are published every year and it's worth checking them on the City Council website. If you want to see the blessing, you need to be on the Ronda de Sant Pau early; if you'd rather soak up the atmosphere, just stand anywhere along the route and wait to hear the hooves.
Checked
Data checked in October 2026 against: Ajuntament de Barcelona (Cultura Popular, Tres Tombs de Barcelona; Barcelona Cultura, January 2019), Gran Enciclopèdia Catalana (els Tres Tombs), betevé (2025 bicentenary, 2025 Trobada Nacional and 2026 cavalcade), VilaWeb (3 May 2025) and Surtdecasa (Tres Tombs de Barcelona 2026).
Quick questions
Why is it called Tres Tombs?
Because, in the original guild cavalcade, the procession went three times round the block of the church of Sant Antoni. Those three turns are no longer made.
What route does the Tres Tombs cavalcade take?
The carriages gather on Montjuïc and the route always passes along the Ronda de Sant Pau, where the animals are blessed, and heads for Plaça de Sant Jaume. In 2026 it passed along the Paral·lel, the rondas, Plaça de la Universitat, Pelai and the Rambla.
Was the 2026 cavalcade held in January?
No: it was postponed because of rain and to guarantee the animals' welfare, and it went out on Saturday 16 May. It was the 201st edition.