Christmas is an extremely important time in Spanish Culture with the highlights being the Holy Innocents Day, Kings Parade, and Christmas Eve dinner for Catalan families.The holiday season in Spain, which starts in the early weeks of December, lasts up to the first week in January. During this month, one can find all the main town squares and streets shining bright with all the lights and decorated with small nativity scenes in many places.Spanish Christmas is quite different from the one celebrated in the USA, as most of its traditions are rooted in European culture. The inception of the holidays is on the day of the Feast of Immaculate Conception when every Spaniard starts to put out their Christmas decorations and start decorating the nativity scenes in their homes. During the holidays, many people enjoy festivities which include a lot of food and drinks, dancing and singing Christmas carols, meeting friends and family, and exchanging gifts with them. These Spanish traditions reflect the importance of Christmas day and Christmas eve for the people.So, how do Spanish people enjoy the Christmas season? What is the importance of New Year’s Eve for the holiday season? Read on to find answers to all your questions related to the Christmas Day celebrations in the Spanish culture. Afterward, also check Christmas in Japan facts and Christmas in Italy facts.Cultural Christmas Traditions In BarcelonaBarcelona is situated in the northeastern region of Catalonia in Spain. There are several traditions that are quite unique only to this region and city of Barcelona.Many Catalan families in Barcelona celebrate Christmas just like everyone else in Spain, but there are a few traditions that are found only in Barcelona.One of them is Caga Tio, which is a small wooden log, hollow from the inside and decorated with a smiley face and the traditional Catalan har called a barretina. Little kids are given this Christmas log as a gift during the start of the holidays in early December. The children are tasked with taking care of the log by keeping it warm inside a blanket and feeding it Turron every day.This Spanish tradition is instilled in kids so as to ensure that they behave well, and if they do, the hollow wooden log will ‘poop out’ their gifts on the day of the Feast of the Three Kings. Generally, kids beat this log so that the gifts fall out of it, which is symbolized as the log shitting the gifts out for children, which is quite hilarious.Another one of Christmas traditions seen only in Barcelona, Catalonia is a small figurine which goes in all nativity scenes is the figure called Caganer. This figure depicts a man in traditional Catalan attire, which is a shirt, blue trousers, and the traditional Barretina. Shockingly, this figure is always shown to be squatting while taking its pants down, the position for taking a dump. His figure is generally placed inside the stables in nativity scenes, and this tradition has been followed in Barcelona since the 18th century. Culturally, it is believed that the squatting figure of the Caganer brings good luck and symbolizes fertile lands and a healthy harvest in the coming year.Three days after Christmas, on December 28 is the day when Spanish people celebrate a day called All Fool’s Day, which is similar in tradition to April fools day in the west. On this day, many people try to fool each other and play practical jokes on friends and family. Even many media and newspapers participate in this fun by circulating spoof articles and news.One of the main attractions of Barcelona is Kings Day, which is celebrated on the evening of 5th January every year, a day before Epiphany. On this day, one can witness the bright, colorful, and lively parade which goes throughout the whole city. This is one of the most famous Spanish Christmas traditions, which attracts thousands of tourists every year to the Spanish cities, especially for these parades. This parade involves three wise kings who arrive on a carriage shaped like a boat that travels on the city’s roads. This is the main attraction for small children, as these three kings usually throw candies and small goodies to any children they spot. These parades are accompanied by a lot of music, cheering, shining lights and performances put on by many people.Christmas & New Years Traditions Celebrated Throughout SpainSpanish Christmas traditions usually start on the Feast of Immaculate Conception, which falls on December 8 every year. On this day, people start to put up their Christmas decorations and nativity scenes. The Christmas markets start to emerge everywhere around this time, where people can buy all holiday decorations, souvenirs, and traditional seasonal food.Christmas eve is the time when the holiday traditions start in full spirit, as the Spanish people enjoy a hearty dinner which includes a broth called Carn d’Olla. The meat in which the soup is cooked makes for the main course of dinner. Many Spanish families eat this traditional meal along with tapas dishes and special pasta.It is quite common to splurge on expensive meat for the Christmas eve feast, which includes meat like Jamon, langoustines, and eel. For desserts, Turron or Polvorones are eaten, the prior being a sweet made from nougat and almonds while the latter is made from almond paste. It is believed that a rooster was crowing loudly on the night that baby Jesus was born.On the day of Christmas, many parents give their children small gifts, although the main gifts are saved for the day of the Three Kings Feast. Nowadays, many families also follow western traditions of decorating Christmas trees in the house and telling their children the stories of Santa Claus who leaves gifts for good children. The feast on Christmas day includes various salads, seafood, and asparagus, along with several other dishes as well. But the main attraction of the Christmas meal is turkey.On December 28, Spanish people celebrate a day called ‘Dia de los santos inocentes’ which can be translated to ‘day of innocent saints’. On this day, people trick each other by telling false stories or playing practical jokes with them. This concept is similar to what is celebrated in the USA as April fools day. This day is celebrated in remembrance of all the babies who were killed by King Herod when he was looking for baby Jesus Christ. Apart from these traditions, one can find ‘Pastorets’, which are small plays put on by local people in many towns which tell the story of Jesus Christ and Christmas.On New Year’s eve, many Spanish families gather for dinner before going out with friends or family to enjoy the last few hours of the last day of the year. Many people who are at home sit in front of their televisions to watch a live broadcast from the main square of Madrid. One of the very unique Spanish Christmas traditions is eating twelve grapes at the midnight stroke, one grape each for every chime of the clock. It is believed that if one can achieve this difficult feat, it would bring them good luck in the coming year.As a country, Spain has an extremely rich religious history when it comes to Christmas. In the Spanish culture, Christmas is celebrated as an extremely pious occasion as compared to the USA. Here the holiday is all about spending more time with the family rather than an occasion for sharing gifts with family members. But Santa Claus is not considered as important in Spain as a Christmas tree is. People do know about Santa Claus and in some regions, kids are instructed that if they do not behave properly, Santa Claus will come and carry them away.Feast Of The Three KingsThe Three Kings Parade is an event that happens every year in several Spanish towns and cities on the evening of January 5th, a day before Epiphany. On this day, Three Kings are paraded down the streets of the cities, dressed in royal attire and accompanied with a fanfare that includes music, singing, and artistic performances.Three Kings day is a major attraction for Spanish children, as they get to see these Three Kings, which are kind of equivalent to Santa Claus in western culture. These three kings shower everyone they pass with candies and small goodies. The Spanish word for this festival is Dia de Los Reyes.This festival celebrated the arrival of the three wise men in Bethlehem after the birth of Jesus Christ; Melchior, Gaspar, and Balthasar. They represent the three kings who bring frankincense, gold, and myrrh for Jesus which is mentioned in the Bible. On this night, children get gifts from these three kings which they receive the next morning. Many people and tourists visit the cities of Barcelona and Madrid where these three kings parades are huge and world-famous, which also attracts millions of tourists to witness this major holiday attraction in Spain.On the next day, which is the day of Epiphany, little children and family members get to open their gifts. This event is followed by another long lunch, which always ends with a special cake called El Roscon de Reyes. This cake can be baked or bought at a local bakery, which is filled with chocolate or cream and is decorated with a paper crown. It is a Spanish tradition to fill this cake with some goodies, one of which is a small figurine of a king and another is a bean. The one who finds the king gets to wear a paper crown and act like a king for a day, while the one who gets the bean needs to pay for the Roscon cake itself!Holiday Traditions In MadridOne of the major Spanish Christmas traditions which are quite popular in Madrid is the Christmas lottery. Many grocery stores, local shops, and schools sell lottery tickets to everyone, an event which is called ‘El Gordo which translates to ‘the fat one’.This Christmas lottery event is run by the government itself, which is the world’s largest lottery event as its prizes collectively add up to millions of Euros. The holiday spirit reaches its max when the winners of the Christmas lottery are announced on December 22 in a special live telecast, which involves merrily singing school children.One of the major events in Madrid happens on New Year’s Eve when thousands of people gather in the city’s main square, Puerta de Sol. Here, people collectively follow the Spanish Christmas traditions of eating grapes together at every chime of the big clock atop the Casa de Correos building after midnight. It is a very humorous event as everyone tries to stuff their mouths with a lot of grapes and fail miserably doing it. Another major attraction in Madrid is the striking three kings parade which is celebrated in the capital city of Spain.This parade has the most visitors throughout the country, even attracting foreigners and citizens alike. This parade usually travels through the city from Nuevos Ministerios to the Plaza de Cibeles. Another attraction in Madrid during Christmas is the huge, diverse, and sprawling Christmas markets which provide a huge variety of goods like Christmas decorations, festive food, gifts, souvenirs, etc. for everyone. The city lights which cover every surface do not fail to give you a festive cheer once you lay your eyes upon their bright twinkling.Holiday Traditions In CataloniaCatalonia is a region in northeastern Spain, which houses the city of Barcelona and numerous places with beautiful beaches of Spain. There are many Christmas traditions that are unique to this region only.One of these traditions is gifting the children with Caga Tio, a wooden log painted with a smiley face wearing a traditional Catalan Barretina. This log is filled with gifts, supposedly by the three kings and wise men who blessed baby Jesus with gifts after his birth. These gifts are ‘pooped out’ by the wooden log at the end of holidays.Another unique tradition of Catalonia is placing handmade figurines of a man who is squatting to take a dump, called the Caganer. This figure is placed in every nativity scene and has been a tradition since the 18th century. This tradition has become quite hilariously popular, often depicting famous celebrities and politicians in that manner. These nativity scenes are called ‘pessebre’ in Spain, are usually found in every Catalan home, and are made together by Catalan families, which is considered a family tradition.Another festival that is unique to Catalonia is the Feast of San Esteban, celebrated on December 26, a day after Christmas. On this day, Catalans enjoy a dish called Cannelloni, which is pasta stuffed with leftover meat from the previous meals of Christmas eve and Christmas day. This day is celebrated in order to finish any leftover meat instead of throwing it away and wasting it. Another tradition which the Catalans follow is to drink Cava, a type of champagne on the night of New Year to welcome the new year with a celebration.Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly facts for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for Spain Christmas symbols then why not take a look at Christmas in Germany, or Christmas in China facts.
Christmas is an extremely important time in Spanish Culture with the highlights being the Holy Innocents Day, Kings Parade, and Christmas Eve dinner for Catalan families.
