Christmas
time is slightly different in Spain than in the UK.
Noche Buena
The most
important night for the family celebrations here is on the 24th of December,
which is called Noche Buena. As you know
we call it Christmas Eve in English but it is not the direct translation.
The family dinner
is usually at 9pm and includes seafood or shellfish. They don’t traditionally eat stuffed turkey
with veg like we do on Christmas day or anything like that. There will be cava or cider or something to
clink glasses with and wish each and everyone best wishes for Christmas.
Polvorones
and other sweets are eaten like we eat our boxes of Quality Street and Roses,
although I see them frequently on a decorative tray I don’t see many people
eating them! They are sweet, crumbly
shortbreads made of almonds with icing sugar on the top which give them their
name because polvo means dust.
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| Image courtesy of http://www.vinogastro.com/Turron.html |
There is a church service late at night, like
our Midnight Mass, that is called the Misa del gallo because it goes on until
quite late (or early). The service in
the village here included a Christmas story acted out by local children.
El dia de la Navidad
Christmas
day is usually spent visiting the rest of the family like aunties, uncles and
cousins. There is no traditional dish
that is eaten on this day that I know of.
Shops and businesses are not open on Christmas Day. In the UK we have the holiday of Boxing Day,
although nowadays lots of shops open and start their sales. In Spain, the 26th of December is
a normal day and lots of people return to work.
In the
Catholic faith, presents are given at Reyes at the beginning of January (I will
post about this), not on Christmas Day, and Santa Claus is not a part of the festivities. However, I know many families who now not only give gifts at Reyes, but they also give something on Christmas Day. This is especially typical for children because if they wait until the 6th of January to receive their presents they don't get much time to enjoy them as the kids go back to school the next day on the 7th of January.
The weather at Christmas
Where I am today in the province of Granada it's raining and quite cold so probably not much different to many places in the UK. In the mountains around here, especially in the Sierra Nevada where there is a ski resort, the mountains are snowy. During the day when the sun is out it gets quite warm but quickly goes cold when the sun goes down.
How do you celebrate Christmas with your family or loved-ones?
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