17/04/2013 00:00
TW
0
STAFF REPORTER

MADRID
HAND-made sweets, chocolate eggs and other regional delights are coming out in the shops prior to Easter, clear evidence that the economic crisis has not eaten into Spain's determination to celebrate it traditionally, patisserie industry sources confirmed yesterday.

The same sources said that with people tightening their belts economically and spending more on essentials rather than luxuries, day-to-day patisserie businesses have noticed how their income has gone down. “But the penny-pinching,” said Salvador Santos Campano, the President of the Spanish Confectioners Confederation “has not extended to seasonal celebrations such as Easter.” This means, he furthered, that people will be buying delicacies after the end of Lent, but confectioners have been forced to keep their prices at the same level as last year.

Santos also suggested that because the date of Easter has fallen later in the year, with the weather starting to get warmer and dryer - people are spending more time outside, window shopping. They are therefore more likely to be attracted by the tempting displays of hand-crafted chocolate eggs and what are known as “monas de Pascua” - an endless selection of elaborately decorated figurines made out of sponge and covered in chocolate, along with another Spanish favourite - torrijas - crunchy, fried cakes subtly flavoured with anís, a liquorice flavoured liqueur.

Santos said that this year, the Confectioners' Confederation is expecting to sell 10 million “monas de Pascua” throughout the country and between 38 and 39 million torrijas.

In the Balearic Islands, the later Easter dates this year have proved very encouraging to the regional Bakers and Patisserie Makers' Association. Its Director, Josema Granel said that there will be more tourism around this time and that the momentum of sales could see a sharp rise in the number of products which are typical of the Balearics, such as rubiols (pasties filled with sweet glacéd pumpkin) and crespiels (hand-made biscuits cut into different shapes.) However, not everyone agrees - some mainland industry sources said yesterday that the fine weather will prompt people to go straight to the beach, ignoring the Easter delicacies.