Spanish funerals

Spanish beliefs about death

The rite is Catholic, and follows the Church’s own funeral liturgy. What is culturally Spanish is everything around it: the vigil, the speed, the procession and the calendar of cemetery visits.

Catholic teaching holds that the funeral is the last Passover of the child of God, leading into the life of the Kingdom, and that the dead may undergo a period of purification which the prayers of the living can shorten. That is why prayer for the person who has died matters as much as remembrance of them.

Spanish funeral ceremonies

In Spain the sequence is registration, then a burial licence, then burial – and by law burial takes place at least twenty-four hours after the death. In practice a Spanish funeral is usually held within a day or two.

The vigil, the velatorio, was traditionally held through the night at the family home, with a room for the bier and another for the bereaved. It now almost always takes place at a tanatorio, a funeral home with a reception hall, a chapel and a cafeteria, where the stay need not be continuous. The tanatorio has also largely absorbed the funeral procession that once carried the coffin through the streets to the church.

A Spanish vigil is a sociable gathering rather than a service, and that surprises some guests. Here's what to expect:

• Velatorio: The vigil. Traditionally an all-night gathering at the family home, now usually held at a tanatorio.
• Tanatorio: The funeral home where the body lies and the family receive visitors, with a reception hall, chapel and cafeteria.
• Tumulo: The bier or catafalque on which the body lay during the traditional home vigil.
• Dolientes: The bereaved family, who traditionally occupied a room apart from the bier.
• Licencia de enterramiento: The burial licence, issued only once the death is registered. Burial follows at least twenty-four hours after the death.
• Nicho: An above-ground wall niche for an individual burial.
• Panteon: A family-owned vault, usually on the cemetery's main avenue or beside the chapel.
• Columbario: A structure holding one or more cremation urns.
• Osario: An ossuary.
• Todos los Santos and Fieles Difuntos: 1 and 2 November. The days on which families visit, clean and decorate graves.
• Novenario: Nine nights of prayer, in Spain sometimes concluding on All Saints' Day.

The cost of a Spanish funeral in the UK depends on the funeral director, the church, and the cemetery or crematorium. Church offerings and burial fees are set separately from our charges. Two things are worth raising early: UK cemeteries rarely offer the niches and family vaults common in Spain, and repatriation to Spain is a separate arrangement with its own paperwork and lead time. Your local Dignity funeral director can talk you through everything that is included, and the costs.

At Dignity, we’re here to support families of every culture. We can arrange Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Irish, African, Nigerian, Caribbean and Jamaican funerals, and funerals for people of every faith and none. Contact your local funeral director to talk about what your family needs.