Personal experiences
In all honesty, I’d rather skip Christmas, New Year’s Eve and all other holidays like this at the end of the year, so a good reason to travel south. Where, with exceptions, only 1 Christmas Day is celebrated, there is little or no fireworks to see and hear and with a bit of luck you can catch some sun rays.
Once in Spain, even I can enjoy beautifully lit towns and villages, Santa Claus in full costume on the beach and Spanish delicacies. As for the weather: so far I have always been lucky with sun and good temperatures.
Christmas
If you don’t feel like the Christmas atmosphere, be aware, everyone in Spain is also under the spell of the holidays. From December 8, the Christmas lights will be turned on in the streets of villages and towns.
If you are in Málaga around Christmas, you should definitely see the decorations in Calle Larios. Every year there is a different decoration. It is not crowded on Christmas Eve (Nocha Buena) because many Spaniards celebrate it with their families. According to tradition, roast turkey is eaten, but more and more Spaniards are now switching to other dishes. You can see and smell that they mainly eat fish when you walk past the fish departments in the supermarkets a few days before Christmas. After the hot meal, the super sweet Turrón is often eaten. Everything is closed on Christmas Day and most restaurants are fully booked.
New Year’s
On New Year’s Eve (Noche Vieja), most Spaniards stay at home until 12 to dine extensively with the whole family. After dinner, everyone heads to the town square to eat the obligatory 12 grapes at every chime of the clock. Each grape is equivalent to a month of the year. These days the grapes have conveniently packed in a box. Afterwards everyone wishes each other a happy new year and there is a toast with champagne. Afterwards it is a pleasant bustle with young and old gathering in the local bars.
Receipe
Not in Spain but in the mood for a typical Spanish (Christmas) recipe? Click here!
Photo by David Köhler on Unsplash
