Every spring, over 200,000 people visit the Spanish city of Lleida. They come for a happy event called L’Aplec del Caragol. At this event, people celebrate the region’s favorite food: snails.
A Festival of Smoke, Music, and Snails
You can smell smoke from the barbecues before you see the event. The smoke rises from L’Aplec del Caragol. This is an important food festival in Catalonia. It is a yearly highlight for people living in Lleida. Lleida is a city 130km west of Barcelona in northwest Spain.
As you get closer, you hear music coming from 119 party tents. Each tent has a bar, a wood-fired barbecue, and dinner tables. Groups of friends and family gather in these tents. They are called colles or crews. They eat snails and dance until early morning.
Record-Breaking Attendance and Future Dates
It is no surprise that over 200,000 visitors come to this event each spring. 15,000 people take part for three days. The dates are May 24-26, 2024 and May 23-25, 2025.
People want to try the region’s special food – snails. They want to see the world’s biggest snail-eating festival.
“The best part is to eat, drink and dance,” says Antonieta Solé. She is a local person. She met her husband at this event 34 years ago.
The Joy of Community and Tradition
All the party tents follow the same schedule. There is a group lunch at 2:30 pm. Dinner is at 10:00 pm. Some big tents hire professional chefs. Other tents divide tasks among members.
Arantxa Contreras Blazquez explains this. She has been the head of one tent for 14 years. The food is important. But the best part is reuniting with friends.
“Half the people here I only see once a year for this event,” she says.
Culinary Delights: Snail Dishes to Savor
The temporary streets are very crowded. The people of Lleida are joyful. Their happiness spreads to others. They stand around large pans filled with snails. They cook and drink cold beer in the warm May weather.
While walking through the festival grounds, I see interesting things. I see a man wearing an inflatable snail costume. I see a contest for making aioli sauce. I see a children’s snail race.
The snail race is not very exciting. The animals hardly move. Most people from Catalonia would agree. Snails are better as food than entertainment.
Angels Ons Solé is a well-dressed woman in her 70s. She says, “The snail is special to Lleida. It is food to share with friends and family. We have cooked and eaten snails all our lives.”
She makes a caracolada whenever family visits. A caracolada is a snail barbecue. Aplec itself is like a huge, extra special caracolada.
Entry to the festival is free. Visitors who don’t belong to a group can enjoy traditional snail dishes. They can eat in the big restaurant.
Some dishes are a la gormanda and a la llauna. A la gormanda means snails cooked in a spicy, herby sauce. A la llauna means the snails are cooked on an open fire.
Rosa Maria Gutierrez Naharro comes from a nearby town. She celebrates her birthday at Aplec. She says, “We tried the a la gormanda snails and snails with ribs. The ribs were my favorite. If you order, ask for extra bread to dip in the delicious sauce.”
The snail is like a blank canvas; it absorbs any flavours you add, and everyone has their version – Ferran Perdrix
There is an effort to conserve traditional snail recipes. But the recipes are also open to interpretation. Ferran Perdrix explains this. He is the president of FECOLL. FECOLL organizes Aplec.
Perdrix says, “The snail is like a blank canvas. It absorbs any flavors you add. Everyone has their own version.”
Francisco Vivas Fernandez works in the festival’s restaurant. He has worked there for three years. Most visitors are tourists from Spain. But he has also served people from France, Germany and Malta.
At one table, a group of Chinese students share a plate of snails a la llauna. At first, they are not sure how to eat them. Locals use long toothpicks to remove the snail from its shell. But the students are pleasantly surprised by the taste.
For people who don’t want to try snails, there are other options. These include cod in tomato sauce and butifarra sausage.
A Glimpse into Catalan Culture
The festival offers more than just food. It gives visitors a look at Catalan culture. Visitors can see human towers called castellers. These towers are several stories high. Visitors can also see the traditional sardana dance.
In recent years, there are more options for people not part of a group. There are concerts and open-air dance floors. DJs play reggaeton music until 6 am.
Growing Popularity and Expansion
Most visitors come from nearby cities. But some travel from Madrid or other places with high-speed trains. Perdrix explains this. The festival is named an event of national tourist interest. But Perdrix hopes it will become known internationally too.
For now, the festival broke another record this year. More snails than ever were eaten – 15 tons! During the weekend, Lleida is all about snails. The city’s restaurants must have two sittings to serve everyone, Perdrix says.
The Spirit of Lleida
The festival keeps getting bigger. Four new party tents were added this year. It is now the biggest festival in its 43-year history.
In front of a big pot of snails, I find Francesc Segura. He is an Aplec veteran. He attended the very first festival in 1980.
He says, “Back then, we were only seven groups. We gathered by the Segre river to eat snails once a year.”
Aplec has changed a lot since the early days. But it keeps the unique spirit of this Catalan region. Locals call it the “Far West” because of the dry, flat landscape.
Unlike Barcelona, Lleida does not have pretty beaches or Gaudí buildings to offer tourists. But it has plenty of snails, beer and a way of showing people a good time.
