Spanish Christmas traditions

Although Christmas starts on the 24th for most families, there are some Spanish pre-Christmas traditions. The most important is the Spanish Christmas Lottery, known as  ‘el Gordo’ (the fat one) which is held on the 22nd December and is the biggest lottery worldwide. Apart from that, you usually watch ‘La Gran Familia’, a movie that is on TV every single year.

The night of the 24th is called Nochebuena. Religious people go to the church on the 24th to the ‘Misa del Gallo’ (something similar to midnight mass), but most of the families simply reunite in order to have a huge dinner (and eat way more than is recommended). Although this ‘feast’ may vary, it usually includes some appetizers (mainly Jamón Serrano), seafood, soups, lamb and a typical Christmas dessert (turrón and/or polvorones).

The night starts with a speech made by the King (every year at 21:00 in every single Spanish channel). Tradition has it that you have to watch the first 2 minutes and once you notice it is pretty much the same speech as the previous years, just ignore it and start eating. Nochebuena usually lasts 5-6 hours. Dinner is just an excuse to celebrate and have fun with the family and friends. After dinner, you usually drink a glass of Cava (Spanish champagne) and go out with friends or simply stay at home partying.

On the 25th (Navidad) the celebration is not that ‘long’. You usually have a delicious lunch with your family and then watch TV during the afternoon. Some families exchange presents, but most of the Spanish families do it on the 6th of January.

New Year’s eve

On the 31st we celebrate the ‘Nochevieja’. In order to do it correctly, you usually eat (and drink) three or four times more than you would do on a normal day. Spanish people have a ‘special’ way of welcoming the new year, which consists on eating 12 grapes  (once with each bell strike on the Plaza Mayor in Madrid). After the ‘Campanadas’, young people usually go out and party until 7 in the morning. Before returning to your home you have to drink a hot chocolate and eat some ‘churros’ (fried-dough pastry).

On the 1st of December you watch Vienna’s New Year’s Concert and the Ski Jump Event, unless you went out on Nochevieja. In that case, you can sleep until lunch. After (another) huge and delicious lunch with your family, you usually play board games together or watch TV in the afternoon.

Reyes Magos

On the night of the 5th of January, the tradition has it that you need to go see a ‘cabalgata’ (procession) in which the Three Wise Men and their servants parade and throw sweets to the children. The typical dinner is a cup of hot chocolate with ‘Roscón de Reyes’. Before going to sleep, children put some milk and biscuits next to the Christmas tree for the Three Kings and some water for their camels. They also leave out their best pair of shoes to be filled with presents. On the next morning (personal note: it usually is REALLY early) children wake up and see how many presents they have received. If they have been good, they will find a lot of good presents but if they have been naughty they will find coal. The coal is actually made of sugar, but some years ago it was real coal!

Learning Spanish over Christmas

Most of our Spanish  schools in Latin America are open all year round, including during Christmas time! Our schools in Argentina for example only close on  public holidays on 25th December and 1st January.

In Europe, our school in Palma de Mallorca is a great choice of location to experience a  Spanish Christmas. The school will be closed on 25th and 26th December due to public holidays, but outside of this there is a special Christmas course at this school, consisting of 12 lessons taking place over three days. Of course you are welcome to extend this week by taking Spanish lessons either before or after the Christmas week!

Carlos