Travel
The making of a Catalan classic: Panellets for the people
In Catalonia, the chilly autumn nights bring with them the marvels of marzipan, as Graham Keeley discovered when he attended a panellets-making masterclass.
Panellets are bite-sized balls of marzipan that can be covered with sliced pine nuts or diced almonds before they are popped in the oven.
Similar to the Day of the Dead in Mexico, these little delicacies are usually cooked in tribute to lost loved ones, when families visit cemeteries on All Saints’ Day (1 November).
It has also become a Catalonian tradition for marking the change of season, by enjoying the food and wines that are in harvest.
This includes eating castanyes (hot roasted chestnuts), drinking muscadel (a sweet dessert wine) and foraging mushrooms in the woods.
Passed down through generations
Making panellets is seen as a family tradition – something you do with your mother or father at home then passing on the knowledge to your children someday.
To look at, these small, button-sized nibbles appear an easy thing to make. However, to find out for real, I attended La Patente cooking school in Barcelona to learn from a professional, Mayera Armas.
In a visit organised by Barcelona-based airline Vueling to promote Catalan culture, Armas took a group of journalists through their paces in the kitchen.
As someone who struggles to boil an egg at the best of times, I decided to bring a secret weapon: My son Jack Keeley. He’s a keen cook who has made panellets before, so knew what he was doing.
He also saved my blushes, especially among some stiff competition from colleagues from France and Italy.
Getting the recipe right
To start off, you mix water and sugar in a saucepan and bring to a boil for about five minutes, so it becomes a sweet syrup.
Then you add almond powder in a bowl and mix well.
After this, you must add egg whites and yolks from separate bowls.
Next comes the most important part: kneading the mix – but it cannot be too dry. If you find that it is, just add more egg or some water.
By this stage – if you have kneaded the mixture correctly – you should have a long marzipan sausage.
Now comes the moment to get out a huge knife and the scales: the marzipan must be cut into tiny 20 gramme pieces and then rolled into balls.
Size matters here – these are bite-size delicacies, so if they are any bigger, you will run out of ingredients to make enough panellets to go round. They’re also typically puddings you bring to parties, so you don’t want to be left short.
The next part involves coating the marzipan with your covering of choice. Traditionally, that would be pine nuts or diced almonds.
Sweet dreams are made of marzipan
The nut mix should be kneaded into the marzipan using some beaten egg white. The best way to do this is to wet your hands so that you can make them look like Ferrero Rocher chocolates, except without the trademark chocolate, of course. Each panellet should be well covered.
Alternatively, if you prefer a sharper taste, you can try pushing crystalised cherries into the centre of each panellet, but these must also be coated in beaten egg white.
Another option could be coating the delicacy with salted chocolate and/or orange.
Quince jam, a traditional Spanish produce that comes to harvest during autumn time, is another popular flavouring.
Whatever your tastes, panellets are for those with a pretty sweet tooth.
Finally, they should be popped into the oven for about ten minutes at about 200-220 degrees Celsius. Once you have taken them out, don’t sink your teeth in straight away! If you leave them for a day or two, they taste much better.
Armas, who is originally from Venezuela but moved to Barcelona 20 years ago, said panellets were a defining autumn dish in Catalonia.
“Panellets are very important because it is the day you remember your relatives who have died. So, you get together with your family or friends and you go to the cemetery,” Armas tells Euronews Culture.
“It is also the start of autumn. You can be eating panellets for two weeks and then they are gone.”
She said the ingredients matter because they are native to Catalonia.
“The almond trees should be flowering by now and it should be made with fresh almonds. Or it can be made with pine nuts. You need to make it with the fresh products that you have.”
Over the years, immigration to Catalonia from outside Spain has influenced the way panellets are made.
“Almond and pine nuts are the most traditional ones, but with immigration you get chocolate. But you also get quince [jam], which is typical here and it is like an autumn fruit,” she said.
“This has nothing to do with Halloween, which is American. I hope that we keep this tradition.”
Armas also stressed that panellets could not be consumed without a “little” glass of muscadel. This should typically be done by tilting a porrón – or wine jar – and swallowing it in one.
Dear reader, your author tried this – but the wine ended up all over his apron instead of down his throat.
Meanwhile, his teenage son drank the muscadel down in one.
The shame of it.
Author
As millions of holidaymakers prepare to head to the Canary Islands this summer, authorities have issued a wildfire pre-alert across the archipelago.
The warning, announced by the General Directorate of Emergencies on Sunday, applies to tourist hotspots El Hierro, La Palma, La Gomera, Tenerife and Gran Canaria.
It comes as the islands enter a high-risk fire period following the wet season, as hot, dry winds known as the ‘calima’ begin blowing in from the Sahara Desert.
Fires are common, but they haven’t slowed tourism
The risk of wildfire is nothing new for the Canary Islands.
The volcanic terrain, Mediterranean climate and fire-adapted vegetation – plants that have evolved to thrive in fire-prone environments – make them susceptible to summer blazes, and scientists say wildfires are part of the archipelago’s ecological rhythm.
Some of the worst occurred in 2023, when forest fires ravaged Tenerife, destroying more than 15,000 hectares of land and forcing 12,000 people to evacuate. The blaze was later found to have been started by arsonists.
This year, officials are urging tourists and locals alike to take extreme caution, warning against launching fireworks near forests and discarding cigarettes on dry ground.
But even as the fire warnings roll in, the Canaries’ appeal shows no signs of slowing down.
In 2024, the islands welcomed nearly 18 million tourists, including a record-breaking 15.5 million international arrivals. Among them, British travellers led the way, recording 6.3 million visits – up 500,000 from 2023.
Concerns about overtourism mount amid record arrivals
While the Canary Islands continue to attract record numbers of tourists, residents are increasingly voicing concerns about overtourism.
In April 2024, tens of thousands of islanders participated in protests, holding signs that read “the Canary Islands have a limit” while rallying against rising housing costs, environmental damage and the strain on public services.
Over Easter this year, about 80,000 hospitality workers in Tenerife, La Palma, La Gomera and El Hierrowalked out in a dispute with unions over pay.
The surge in short-term rentals has been especially contentious. Locals have reported getting priced out of their neighbourhoods as properties are converted into holiday lets, the cost of living soars and wages stagnate.
Despite these concerns, tourism remains a significant part of the Canary Islands’ economy, accounting for approximately 35 per cent of its GDP.
Tenerife still reigns supreme
After welcoming seven million tourists in 2024, Tenerife remains the most visited island.
Its year-round sunshine and wide beaches keep it a firm favourite among families, especially during the UK’s summer school break and throughout the winter months.
As the peak summer season picks up, local tourism boards have made no indication that the fire pre-alerts will disrupt travel plans.
But authorities remain focused on prevention this year.
More than 2,000 firefighters are on standby. Meanwhile, the government has distributed detailed safety advice, urging people to prepare a go-bag, stay informed and follow emergency evacuation or shelter-in-place instructions if fires erupt.
Author
Travel
Violent turbulence hits Ryanair flight in Germany, forcing an emergency landing and injuring 9
By Euronews Travel with AP
Published on
Severe storms in southern Germany forced a Ryanair flight to make an emergency landing late Wednesday after violent turbulence injured nine people on board, German police said in a statement Thursday.
The flight, travelling from Berlin to Milan with 179 passengers and six crew members, encountered turbulence so intense around 8:30 pm that the pilot was forced to make an unscheduled landing at Memmingen Airport in Bavaria.
Eight passengers and one crew member were hurt.
Three people were taken to the hospital in Memmingen for treatment; the other injured people were released after receiving outpatient treatment. As a precaution, all passengers were checked for injuries by the emergency services.
Authorities did not permit the plane to continue flying, and the airline arranged bus transport for passengers. Milan is about 380 kilometres south of Memmingen.
More bad weather expected in Germany
Elsewhere in the region, storms damaged several homes in Ulm, Baden-Württmberg, according to the German news agency dpa.
In the Donaustetten district, strong winds tore roofs off multiple row houses, rendering them uninhabitable, though no injuries were reported. Fire officials suspect a small tornado or waterspout caused the damage. The German Weather Service (DWD) is investigating, according to dpa.
Storm-related emergency calls also came from other areas in southern Germany, where damage was mostly limited to fallen trees and flooded basements.
The DWD warned of further storms on Thursday, 5 June, with hail, strong winds, and localised heavy rain expected.
Author
Published on
Despite warnings to stay away, hikers on Mount Etna were forced to flee this week after Italy’s most active volcano erupted.
Footage from the mountain shared on social media showed tourists scurrying down the slopes as ash rose into the sky. Authorities had issued alerts on Monday morning after signs of increased volcanic activity, but dozens ignored them and climbed toward the summit anyway.
“There was a big explosion and a crater collapsed but luckily it fell into a deserted area,” said Salvo Cocina, head of Sicily’s Civil Protection Department. “It’s very hard to block access [to Mount Etna] – you can’t fence it off.”
No one was injured and the alert level was lowered to the standard ‘yellow’ on Tuesday.
Why is Mount Etna so popular with hikers?
Experiencing a close-up volcanic eruption is a bucket-list event, and Mount Etna offers one of the most accessible opportunities to do it.
At 3,350 metres tall and 35 kilometres wide, the Sicilian giant frequently rumbles to life, offering a front-row seat to nature’s raw power.
Even when it’s active, many trails and paths remain safe to climb.
“[The experience is] a mix of awe and adrenaline,” says mountain guide Saro Trovato, who safely – and legally – climbed Mount Etna when it erupted inFebruary.
“Even from a distance, you can feel the heat radiating from fresh lava flows.”
But above 2,500 metres, hikers are legally required to travel with a qualified mountain guide, who can keep visitors safe as well as informed.
On Tuesday, many hikers were as high as 2,700 metres above sea level.
How to stay safe when visiting Mount Etna
Conditions can change quickly on the mountain.
On Monday, a pyroclastic flow – a fast-moving surge of gas, rock and ash – travelled two kilometres down the mountainside. It didn’t go further than the Valle del Leone, a natural containment area for lava flows, but any changes could have led to catastrophe.
Tourism presents other problems during eruptions, too. In February, Cocina said that tourists parked on narrow roads around Mount Etna had blocked access for emergency vehicles. Firefighters had to be deployed to manage the growing crowds.
This is why the authorities mandate mountain guides such as Trovato, who receive real-time updates from volcanologists and rescue teams and are trained to respond if conditions suddenly change.
“Always check volcanic activity updates from local authorities and respect any access restrictions,” he advises. Especially when the volcano starts to stir.
Author
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