Christmas in Spain

Christmas in Spain

José Francisco talks about what he does on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day

We celebrate Christmas Eve having dinner all the family.On Christmas day we have lunch with the family and we set a Belen (nativity scene) which is the representation of the birth of baby Jesus.The 24th of December at midnight we celebrate the midnight mass to receive Christmas.We go to Cortylandia in Madrid. Cortylandia consists of some very big dolls that talk and sing and every year it is different.

By Ainhoa, Eva, José Francisco, María, Marta and Rafael

The typical food at Christmas in Spain can be turkey or seafood, but on the the three wise men’s day, on the sixth of January, it is typical to eat some sort of ring-shaped cake which contains a little present inside. It is also typical to drink champagne and people put a ring into their glasses before they drink it. The typical Spanish Christmas sweets are called ‘polvorones’.

What do we eat at Christmas?María tells you

The Three Wise Men

On 5th January everybody celebrates a parade. It is a tradition in Spain. In this parade people throw sweets to children from their floats. There are many floats with people wearing costumes but the most important is the one from which the three wise men say hello to all the children. These parades are celebrated in almost every town and city.

The "Aguinaldo"

On Christmas eve children go around the neighbourhood knocking on people’s doors to sing Christmas carols. They can receive money or even sweets for this. This used to be very typical at Christmas until the late nineties, but unfortunately this tradition has been put aside lately and nowadays many Spanish children haven’t even heard of it.

Rafael tells you about this Spanish tradition

Eva tells you about the parade