Which sweet from Granada survives the flight home? Not the famous one. The pionono, the city’s best-known pastry, is sponge soaked in syrup with toasted cream on top, and it is happiest eaten the day you buy it. The Christmas sweets that travel are the dry ones Casa Ysla sells by the kilo: almond mantecados, almond polvorones and aniseed rosco.
Casa Ysla is the Granada pastry maker that created the pionono in Santa Fe and runs 11 shops in the city, the most central at Plaza de Bib-Rambla 22, beside the Cathedral.
What Christmas sweets should you buy in Granada? For your suitcase, almond mantecados, polvorones or aniseed rosco sold by the kilo at Casa Ysla, Plaza de Bib-Rambla 22. For a treat on the day, a box of 6 or 12 piononos. For something only a convent makes, candied fruit from the Comendadoras de Santiago at Calle Santiago 20, bought through a revolving hatch.
Which Granada sweets travel well in your luggage
The rule is simple: dry travels, cream does not. Mantecados, polvorones and aniseed rosco are crumbly biscuits without filling, sold by the kilo, and a box goes into hand luggage without fuss. Piononos and the Three Kings roscón carry cream or custard, so ask for the eat-by date at the counter.
| Granada Christmas sweet | Good for | Sold as | Where |
|---|---|---|---|
| Almond mantecado and polvorón | suitcase and Christmas table | by the kilo | Casa Ysla shops |
| Aniseed rosco | suitcase and pantry | by the kilo | Casa Ysla shops |
| Pionono | eating the same day | box of 6 or 12 | Casa Ysla; the original shop at Calle Real 10, Santa Fe |
| Candied fruit and fruit in syrup | a gift you will not find elsewhere | through the hatch, or ordered for delivery | Comendadoras de Santiago, Calle Santiago 20 |
| Quesitos de Belén and huesos de santo | a convent tray | through the hatch | Monastery of San Bernardo, Calle Gloria 1 |
| Glorias and chocolate truffles | a convent tray | through the hatch | Convent of Santa Catalina de Zafra, Carrera del Darro 39 |
The easiest place to buy them is Casa Ysla at Plaza de Bib-Rambla 22, phone 958 04 49 46, where opening hours are confirmed by phone. Keep your polvorones in their original box, because they crumble easily. Casa Ysla’s Christmas range also includes a manchego biscuit by the kilo, the fourth item on its list.
Where to buy piononos near Granada Cathedral
The Casa Ysla shop at Plaza de Bib-Rambla 22 is the one most visitors walk past, a short stroll from the Cathedral, and a second one sits at Calle Reyes Católicos 57, 252 metres away on the way to Plaza Nueva. Both sell piononos in boxes of 6 or 12 and the Christmas range by the kilo.
If you want the pionono where it was born, the original shop is at Calle Real 10 in Santa Fe, phone 958 44 01 33, 11.8 kilometres from Granada Bus Station. The metropolitan bus line 0140 takes about 25 minutes; at weekends it leaves every hour at half past, from 7:30 to 22:30. For a single fare the Consorcio charges 1.60 euros, or 0.64 euros with its travel card.
Opening hours and prices for each shop, including 24 and 31 December, are given by phone. The central number of the Santa Fe bakery is 958 51 01 05. In Spain nobody expects a tip at a pastry counter.
How to buy sweets from a convent hatch in Granada without speaking Spanish
The torno is a revolving wooden drum set into the convent wall. You ring or call, a nun answers from the other side without being seen, you ask for the sweet by name, put the money in the drum and it turns back with your box. Knowing the name of what you want is half the job, because nothing is on display.
A few phrases cover the whole exchange:
- Buenos días, ¿qué dulces tienen? Good morning, what sweets do you have?
- Una caja de followed by the name, por favor. A box of, please.
- ¿Cuánto es? How much is it?
- Gracias, hermana. Thank you, sister.
Hatch hours are confirmed by phone at each convent, and calling ahead is the best way to avoid a closed door. The Comendadoras de Santiago also take orders for Christmas boxes and can ship them, on 958 225 250.
Which Granada convent to choose for Christmas sweets
In the Albaicín, the Monastery of San Bernardo at Calle Gloria 1 and the Convent of Santa Catalina de Zafra at Carrera del Darro 39 stand 74 metres apart, so one walk covers both, and city buses C31, C32 and C34 stop at Carrera del Darro 33, 82 metres from Zafra. San Bernardo sells quesitos de Belén, huesos de santo and coca; Zafra sells glorias, chocolate truffles, cuajada and cordial biscuits.
| Granada convent | What to ask for | Address | Phone |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monastery of San Bernardo | quesitos de Belén, huesos de santo, coca | Calle Gloria 1, Albaicín | 958 227 892 |
| Convent of Santa Catalina de Zafra | glorias, chocolate truffles, cuajada, cordiales | Carrera del Darro 39, Albaicín | 958 226 189 |
| Comendadoras de Santiago | fruit in syrup, candied fruit, wine rings, marzipan eels | Calle Santiago 20, Realejo | 958 225 250 |
The Comendadoras de Santiago, in the Realejo, make about thirty different sweets, and in 2025 the Repsol Guide gave the convent one of its Christmas Soletes, a Spanish food award for informal places. Their fruit in syrup and candied fruit make the most unusual gift of the three. From Casa Ysla in Bib-Rambla, the Comendadoras are 621 metres away and Zafra 769 metres.
The convent sweets market in Plaza Bib-Rambla
At Christmas 2025 the convent sweets market moved to Plaza de Bib-Rambla for the first time, with sweets from the city’s convents, religious brotherhoods and confraternities. It is the one place where convent sweets are on open display and you can compare several houses side by side.
Dates and hours are released when the Ayuntamiento publishes its Christmas programme in late November. The square is 92 metres from the Plaza del Carmen bus stop. Casa Ysla’s shop is at number 22 of the same square, so one stop covers both. For nativity figures and crafts, see the Christmas markets in Granada.
Rosco or roscón, two Granada sweets with one name
The rosco de anís is a dry aniseed ring biscuit sold by the kilo for the Christmas table. The roscón de Reyes is a large ring of sweet bread with candied fruit, often filled with cream, eaten on 6 January, the day Spanish children get their presents. If you are in Granada for Epiphany, book the roscón by phone before the 5th.
Casa Ysla takes roscón orders in its cafés, in large and small sizes, with cream, whipped cream, chocolate or no filling; check the year’s range in the shop. The Three Kings themselves arrive in the city on the evening of the 5th, and skiing down a slope in Sierra Nevada at Christmas.
What you may not like about Granada Christmas sweets
Piononos are very sweet, and one is often enough. The convent hatch asks for patience and a phone call first, and you pay without seeing the box. Prices are not given in advance by the pastry shop or by the convents, so the budget becomes clear at the counter.
Most of the classic shops are in the city centre, but the original pionono shop is a bus ride away, worth combining with Granada’s villages at Christmas. Between sweet stops, how the tapa with your drink works in Granada and the Cathedral and Royal Chapel tickets fill the rest of the afternoon.
Granada Christmas sweets, frequently asked questions
What is a pionono from Granada?
A pionono is a small cylinder of syrup-soaked sponge topped with toasted cream, first made by the Casa Ysla bakery in Santa Fe, 11.8 kilometres from Granada. Casa Ysla still makes it and sells it in boxes of 6 or 12 in 11 shops in the city, including Plaza de Bib-Rambla 22.
Which Granada sweets are best to take home in a suitcase?
The dry ones sold by the kilo: almond mantecados, almond polvorones and aniseed rosco, all part of the Casa Ysla Christmas range. Piononos and the Three Kings roscón carry cream or custard, so they are better eaten in Granada. Polvorones crumble easily, so keep them in their original box in your hand luggage.
Where can I buy convent sweets in Granada?
At three convents that sell through a revolving hatch: the Comendadoras de Santiago at Calle Santiago 20 in the Realejo, phone 958 225 250, and in the Albaicín the Monastery of San Bernardo at Calle Gloria 1 and the Convent of Santa Catalina de Zafra at Carrera del Darro 39, 74 metres apart.
What is the difference between rosco and roscón in Granada?
The rosco de anís is a dry aniseed ring biscuit sold by the kilo for the Christmas table. The roscón de Reyes is a large ring of sweet bread with candied fruit, often filled with cream, eaten on 6 January. Order a roscón in advance: Casa Ysla takes reservations in its cafés, in large and small sizes.
Take home what is dry and sold by the kilo; eat the pionono in Granada, on the day you buy it.