Christmas in Catalonia
Do you spend you Christmas holidays on the Spain Coast? Then it is a great opportunity to experience a quite different way to celebrate these special days. It doesn´t matter if you will spend a Costa Brava holiday or if you have rent a Costa Dorada hotel you can discover the traditional customs in whole Catalonia.
Enjoy the wonderful and silent pre-Christmas period on one of the several Christmas markets which you will find all over the country. Every year the main focus is on the spectaculars nativity sets which are quite often with real people. The whole town or village will attend on this happening.
You might also be astonished by the bright illuminated streets around the main places and streets. Therefore the decoration at home is not as much as we are used to. Even the Christmas tree is getting more and more popular over the last years. Before the Spain people did not have such a tree. The main decoration is also a cot. It is a Christmas tradition to put the three Magi closer and closer to the nativity set each day until they finally will reach it on the 6th of January. On this day it is also the gift giving by the Three Wise Men and the real Christmas is celebrated.
But already on the 24th of December the families will meet to eat together which can last several hours. Here you can also taste the typical Christmas sweets which will be served afterwards. On this evening the children get already presents. But if you thought now Santa Claus will give it to them is wrong! In Spain the "Gaga tió will give gifts to the children. But not until those have beaten the wooden log and have sung a song for him. As already mentioned the real Christmas celebrations will take place on the Twelfth Day. Already on the 5th of January the arrival of the kings is celebrated with parades. Quite often the three Magi are riding on camels and have sweets with them. The next day they will give presents to the children in the nativity set.
So spend a extraordinary Christmas in Catalonia - Bon Nadal!