The Spanish Christmas begins on December 25 and continues all the way until January 6. However, the National Christmas Lottery, or “El Gordo,” actually kicks off the celebrations on December 22. Ibérico ham, shellfish, tasty cheeses, roast beef, salmon, stuffed turkey, and sweet desserts are delicacies served at the Spanish Christmas Eve (Nochebuena) dinners. There will be Christmas markets and lights in urban and suburban areas. It is believed in Spain that eating twelve grapes at midnight on New Year’s Eve would bring good fortune. But the highlight of the Christmas celebrations is the arrival of the Three Wise Men on the evening of January 6th, who take on the role of Santa Claus and deliver gifts. Only 58% of the Spanish population is Roman Catholic.
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Christmas Traditions in Spain
El Gordo Lottery
El Gordo (“The Fat One”) is a unique Christmas tradition in Spain and it’s one of the most important celebrations. This lottery takes place in December. With millions of euros up for grabs annually, it easily qualifies as the largest lottery in the world. In contrast to other lotteries where the winner takes home a substantial amount, the first-prize number, “El Gordo” (The Fat One), pays out €320,000 after taxes to the holder of a “décimo” (a fraction of a €200 ticket that costs €20).
Prizes of €2.5 billion ($2.6 billion) were distributed by the lottery in 2022. Once taxes were deducted, the highest-demand ticket was valued at €325,000. The practice of gathering together as a group to purchase tickets has been around since 1812. This lottery involves members of social and sporting groups, families, friends, and coworkers, which makes it a communal lottery. Millions of people tune in every day at 9 a.m. to watch the lottery draw.
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Spanish Christmas Foods
In recent years, Statista reports that the average Christmas sweet intake per Spanish individual has hovered around 0.8 kg (1.76 lb); therefore, food is an important part of Christmas in Spain. Below are five of Spain’s most beloved holiday dishes:
- Entremeses: Appetizers like this include regional cheeses like Manchego as well as meats like chorizo, morcilla (black pudding), and ham.
- Pavo Trufado de Navidad: Even if they aren’t eaten very often nowadays, it’s turkey filled with truffles or “Pularda asada” (roasted young fowl).
- Seafood: As an alternative to turkey, seafood is a part of the Spanish Christmas dinner, such as prawns and lobster, especially in Galicia.
- Cochinillo Asado: Roast suckling pig, or cochinillo, is a popular Christmas dish in Spain, especially in the Castile and León autonomous communities.
- Escudella i Carn D’olla: “Galets Soup” is popular in Catalan at Christmas. These meat-filled pasta shells float in a broth made with minced beef.
- The Turrón: Among Spanish Christmas sweets, turrón is by far the most common. This nougat is originally from the Alicante area and is produced with almonds.
- Mantecados and Polvorónes: Brightly wrapped polvorónes and mantecados are popular foods at Christmas in Spain. Produced since the 16th century in Andalusia, mantecados are biscuits or sweets made from lard.
Gift-Giving: Three Kings
In contrast to other nations, Spain’s Epiphany (January 6th), sometimes called Three Kings Day or El Día de Reyes, is the primary day for gift-giving. In the same way that children in other cultures get presents from Santa Claus on Christmas, this is when the Three Kings bring gifts to youngsters.
Spanish children compose letters addressed to the Three Kings—Melchior (Arabia), Gaspar (the Orient), and Balthasar (Africa)—in which they request presents and pledge to be good citizens. Before bed on January 5th, kids fill their shoes with milk, turrón (Christmas nougat), and water to feed the Three Kings and their camels after Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem. Every morning, as the sun comes up, the Spanish kids open their shoes to discover gifts, but the bad ones get a lump of coal.
Decorations and Lights
Lights and decorations during Christmas are a national thing in Spain. An estimated seven billion USD was the value of the worldwide market for Christmas decorations in 2022. This includes lights, trees, and other things. The Spanish towns are renowned for their Christmas light displays, and Madrid, Barcelona, Malaga, and Vigo are the most popular ones.
Madrid’s sidewalks, trees, and public places are illuminated by around 7.5 million LED lights every year. More than 350 streets in Vigo are lit up and the municipality has ordered over a thousand trees for Christmas. The Christmas lights in Vigo in 2020 were 10 million LED lights strung over 334 streets atop 450 trees with 2,700 decorations. The Spanish have a fondness for Christmas lights and decorations, as these numbers demonstrate.
Christmas Celebrations in Spain
For the Spanish, one of the most important parts of Christmas is the procession and gift-giving that take place on January 5th, as well as the entrance of the Three Kings.
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December 28th: El Día de los Santos Inocentes (Day of the Innocent Saints)
On December 28, the Catholic liturgical feast known as El Día de los Santos Inocentes (The Day of the Innocent Saints) is observed in Spain and the children (“Holy Innocents” or Santos Inocentes) who were killed at King Herod’s command around the time Jesus was born are commemorated by this name. Groups of children gather in neighborhoods and go door to door, singing Christmas carols, knocking on doors, and begging for treats. Although this tradition is less common in modern cities, it is nonetheless maintained in a few smaller towns.
Most Spanish children nowadays perform harmless practical jokes like mixing sugar and salt or pranking adults with paper cutouts. This feast includes traditions like the “Flour Battle” in Ibi municipality and the “Crazy People’s Dance” in Jalance, both located in Valencia. Wherever you go on the peninsula, you’ll see mouthwatering tapas, massive meals, and sweet treats everywhere.
January 5th: The Cabalgata de los Reyes Magos
The Cabalgata de los Reyes Magos, also known as the Three Kings Day Parade, is a colorful procession that Spanish towns and cities hold on the evening of January 5th. In this procession that includes dancers, musicians, and floats, the Three Kings make an appearance on camels and ornate floats. These parades are broadcast nationwide in Madrid and Barcelona. The local council members dress as the Three Kings or mechanical floats carrying their likenesses, take center stage.
They throw handfuls of candies at thousands of onlookers as they make their way through the streets. Spain celebrates a significant official holiday on January 6th in order to see the youngsters open their second set of gifts in a span of two weeks. On these days, the Spanish families once again get together for a meal. As a representation of the crown’s jewels, a ring-shaped cake named Roscón de Reyes is decorated with bits of candy. This bread cake often supports cream or fruit.
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January 6th: Día de Reyes (Epiphany)
“The Day of Kings” is the name given to Epiphany Day in Spain and a few Latin American nations. Spanish people believe that the three wise men who followed a light in the sky came to see the infant Jesus on this special day. January 6 is the day for the celebration. Some even go so far as to say it’s more significant than Christmas or New Year’s as a whole holiday in Spain.
Lots of candy, presents, and parades mark the day’s festivities, and gift-giving is a hallmark of Three Kings Day. This has kept Christmas away from commercialism and the transformation into a kid-centric, peaceful holiday. The most spectacular part of Noche de Reyes (Epiphany Eve) in Madrid, as in many other cities, is the cabalgata (or cavalcade), which is a parade of horses.
People seeking to get front-row seats start arriving along the boulevard parade route at 3 p.m. There are a lot of families along the path by 5 p.m., and by 7:30 p.m., there are even more people, mostly adults, than there are kids.
Regional Differences in Christmas Celebrations in Spain
Spain is the third-largest country in Europe with a 44 million population. With a land area of 195,400 mi² and ethnic groups like Basque, Galician, Castilian, Catalan, Andalusian, Gitanos, Levante, Magyars, and Jews, Spanish Christmas customs vary from one area to another.
- Basques Country: Olentzero is the local name for Santa Claus, and on Christmas Eve, he brings presents to kids in this area, instead of the Magi. He is a legendary coal miner from the Basque culture. He arrives in town on Christmas Eve to deliver gifts to the kids.
- Galicia: Greeting someone in Galicia with a “Bo Nadal” (“Good Nativity” or “Merry Christmas”) is the local custom here. “Night of the Candles” is a tradition observed on the night before December 24th when people light candles and place them on their windows.
- Catalonia: The “Caga Tió” (literally “pooping log”) is an unusual custom of Catalonia. It’s wood with a red hat, legs, and a face. The kids will start giving the log little snacks and a cozy blanket on December 8th. They sing traditional Christmas carols and strike the log with sticks on Christmas Eve or Day until it “defecates” little gifts. With its world-renown “La Sagrada Familia” Nativity scene Barcelona is a renowned place for Christmas.
- Andalusia: Andalusia’s Christmas customs include one variation called “Zambombas,” a kind of delicious fried dough pastry fashioned like the infant Jesus. Traditional Christmas songs called “villancicos” are sung and danced to during these celebrations.
