Christmas in Spain

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Christmas is over for another year in Spain – finally.  Not that I don’t love the holiday season here,  but it does tend to last much longer than in many other countries due to their celebration of the coming of the Three Kings on January 5th.  Here’s a round up of my Christmas this year in Spain.

Spain hasn’t yet fallen into the commercial trap of beginning to celebrate Christmas as soon as the Hallowe’en decorations are down, although the tinsel-strewn window displays and loud TV commercials for gift products are appearing earlier and earlier each year.  I was in the process of moving and changing jobs in November, so the festive season kind of snuck up on me.

Christmas in Spain is still a largely religious affair, and family takes priority.  Restaurants fill with large, loud groups of Spanish throughout December, and sleepy, geriatric villages such as the one I live in suddenly seems crowded with all generations and begin to buzz with the noise of children playing outside, hyperactive from the sugary, chocolate churros which can be purchased from the vans that park in the main streets and plazas of the towns.

In December, most town squares erect Navidad (Nativity) scenes.  Exquisitely detailed miniature models of each scene from the nativity story.  Some of these displays are stunningly beautiful and the craftsmanship shows an attention to detail that is rivalled only by their creativity.   Tiny seedlings are planted to represent vines in the fields and plants in the gardens, rivers and fountains have real running water, and many of the figures move, adding an extra air of life about the scenes.  I always find it bittersweet looking at these models, knowing that in the UK many towns no longer even put up lights or decorations as they are stolen or vandalized by local teens.  While some towns in Spain keep their nativities behind glass, most only have a simple wooden or rope barrier to deter people from touching the scenes.

Church services play an important role at this time of year for the Catholic faithful, and families often go several times each week.  Christmas Day does not have the same hype for children as it does in the US or the UK, as their presents are not delivered on Christmas Eve by Santa Claus,  but on January 5th by the Three Kings (representing the three wise men that brought gifts for the baby Jesus.)  I like this interpretation of gift giving at Christmas.  Not only does it have a Biblical basis,  but the kings are often portrayed as different races, which is perhaps surprising for such as racist country. (I’ll be talking more about this in weeks to come.)

As I walked through the town square this morning it was clear the fiesta spirit had died down, people are back at work, the shops and businesses are back to normal hours, and the nativity scenes are being dismantled.  I have to say I feel a bit relieved to get back into some kind of normalcy and routine again, although this is Spain, and it will only be a few weeks before another fiesta comes along to wake us all up again.

View a slideshow of more Nativity scenes here.