Christmas in Spain

Christmas is a deeply religious occasion in Spain. The country's
patron saint is the Virgin Mary and the Christmas season
officially begins on December 8th, the feast of the Immaculate
Conception.

For those of you planning to spend Christmas in Spain, you will
find it is a far less commercialised affair to what you have
become used to in latter years in the UK. Unlike, in the UK
where the build up has already begun, the shops don't actually
start filling up the Christmas stock until December and you
certainly won't find a tree in anybody's house until the second
half of December.

I can understand the urgency to create a festive feeling early
in the UK. Imagine the grimness of winter without the glow of
shop windows, and the exciting countdown to the celebrations.
September to December can be a pretty mundane time of year and
we certainly need those mini festivals such as Halloween and
Bonfire Night to keep us going until Christmas. This year will
be my second Christmas in Spain and I kind of miss doing it the
UK way. However, what I certainly won't miss is that huge
anti-climax feeling that you experience post Christmas as we
endure the drudgery waiting for spring.

The main difference between a Spanish Christmas and the UK
version is the importance of the feast of the Epiphany on the
6th January. This is the day that the Three Kings arrived in
Bethlehem, on horseback. In Spain this is when presents are
given and the three magic kings, not Father Christmas give the
children presents. Parents encourage their children to write to
the Three Kings, in the same way that ours write to Father
Christmas. It is on this day, that people gather in the town's
streets to watch the cavalcades of the Three Kings in all their
glory, throwing sweets for all the children. In recent years
many families have started to give their children their presents
on Christmas Eve because children have to go to school on the
7th January and they don't have time to play with their new toys.

Spanish Christmas is known as Navidad. It is still regarded as a
time to go to church and of course, exchange presents. Christmas
Eve is known as Nochebuena, he Good Night. Families usually
gather around Nativity scenes (a belen) in their own homes. The
meal eaten on Christmas Eve is one of the most important meals
of the year. Seafood is widely eaten and families often hang a
'pata de jamon' in their kitchen and slice off cuts of cold ham
over the Christmas period. You won't be eating mince pies at
Christmas in Spain; here you find cupboards stacked with
Polverones, a cake/biscuit made with almonds, flour, and sugar,
and turron, similar to nougat, made with toasted, sweet almonds.

f you are thinking of spending Christmas in Spain, it is far
less stressful than in the UK as there is hardly any hype, think
UK Christmas in the seventies. However, for children it is
probably not anywhere near as exciting as in the UK. Everything
closes down over Christmas and you don't have the Boxing Day
sales to escape from the house to.

As Spanish television is pretty dire, even for us who can speak
and understand Spanish, my recommendation would be make sure you
have satellite television installed, bring some new DVDs and
some family board games, oh and don't forget the Sainsbury's
mince pies for festive homesickness.