- Santa Begins the "Naughty or Nice List"
- Beaded Christmas Wreath and Beaded Candy Cane Ornaments
- The Poinsettia
- Candy Canes
- Christmas Caroling
Christmas in Spain
In Spain, Christmas is not just a holiday—it’s an event! The Christmas season is a very exciting time in Spain, and celebrations begin around December 22, when Spain’s national lottery (started more than 200 years ago) is held and some lucky person becomes very rich.
Throughout the holiday season, cities and towns are filled with elaborate nativity scenes or crèches made by local Christians. Some nativity scenes fill the display windows of stores and some are miniatures set on workers’ desks. Full size nativities on the lawns of churches and in city plazas are usually the most exciting. The grandest nativity displays feature live actors (portraying Mary, Joseph, Jesus, angels, shepherds and the Three Wise Men) and live animals that might have been sharing space with the baby Jesus on the night of his birth (often sheep, cows, and donkeys).
But Spain doesn’t stop the Christmas celebration with just ornate nativity scenes! In some cities in southern Spain people light special bonfires, called hogueras, and jump over them in celebration. The Spanish have also adopted the Germanic tradition of decorating Christmas trees and lighting lamps and candles in their windows.
In small towns and rural areas children still gather in small groups and sing Christmas carols to their neighbors in exchange for a piece of candy or a few coins. This is just one way the Christmas traditions are passed from adults to children.
On Christmas Eve (December 24) families feast on things like turkey and truffles (a mushroom-like delicacy that grows underground). The feasting begins late at night and family members sing and share stories, staying awake until the “Rooster Mass,” a special church service that starts in the wee hours of the morning.
Christmas Day is spent celebrating Christ’s birth in church and with friends and family members. But the Spaniards don’t stop the celebration on the 25th…
On December 28th the Feast of the Innocents commemorates the slaughter of children King Herod ordered in an attempt to kill the baby Jesus. Although the Feast of the Innocents started tragically, now it is a time for practical jokes and great fun.
On midnight of New Year’s Eve, all the churches in Spain ring their bells twelve times and everyone eats twelve grapes—One grape to bring good luck for each of the twelve months in the New Year.
On the Eve of Epiphany (January 5), children set their shoes outside and fill them with straw or hay. Instead of Santa, the Three Wise Men (the Magi: Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar) come and put gifts in the children’s shoes.
The Christmas season comes to an end in Spain on January 6th, Three Kings Day. Families often celebrate Three Kings Day by eating a special dessert called the “Roscón de los Reyes.” The dessert is a large cake shaped like a ring and decorated with candied fruit to symbolize the riches that covered the long robes of the Three Kings. Inside the cake a special surprise is hidden, and whoever gets the piece of cake that has it will get to be the King or Queen of the house for the rest of the day.
Christmas is in 149 days
