In Britain it’s not unusual for Christmas to start at the end of the summer holidays. I remember going into an Oxford Street store a couple of years ago, looking for any last remaining summer sale bargains and being amazed to find a Christmas Shop!

In Spain, Christmas items begin to appear in the shops towards the end of October/beginning of November, and the real countdown to Christmas doesn’t really start until the beginning of Advent, 1^st December.

Christmas decorations are put up and suddenly Nativity scenes appear everywhere, not just in households and churches but often in the town square, shop windows and even in restaurants! In many villages and small towns in Spain the Nativity will be re-enacted by the locals (often using live animals!) in the last few days before Christmas. Sometimes the local children will go carol singing and be rewarded with some money or sweets.

The 22^nd of December is the next big date. This is for two reasons. Firstly, the schoolchildren finish their school year. Secondly, the Christmas Lottery results are announced. Now, this is huge, it is the biggest lottery in the whole of Spain and virtually the whole country is on tenterhooks waiting for the winning number! This has been a Spanish Christmas tradition since the 18^th Century.

Christmas Eve, 24^th December is called ‘Nochebuena’ and is a really big celebration in Spain. In fact the Christmas Eve meal is larger and more important than the one on Christmas Day. In Britain, turkey is the traditional Christmas feast but in Spain the food varies from region to region. The coastal areas will eat seafood, the central regions around Madrid will eat roast lamb, pork or even suckling pig. Andalucia tends to roast turkey or duck. Traditional sweets include Turron which is a kind of nougat, marzipan, sweet pastries, nuts and dried fruit. It is usual for everything to be washed down with a glass or two of Cava. After this huge meal, Midnight Mass is attended.

Christmas Day 25^th December, is usually a quiet day spent with family. Children will get presents from “Papa Noel” (the Spanish equivalent of Santa Claus) but most of the presents will be held back to be opened on Three King’s Day. There is more eating, drinking and merrymaking but the feasting is not as extensive as on Christmas Eve.

December 28^th is called the Day of the Innocents. This is the day when Herod brutally murdered hundreds of children but strangely enough, in Spain this day is the equivalent to April Fools Day in the UK. This is the day where practical jokes are played on family and friends and many weird and wonderful stories appear in the newspapers!

December 31^st New Year’s Eve is called Nochevieja in Spain and is a big celebration! People will gather in town squares and plazas, wait for the countdown and when the clock begins to strike 12 times it is traditional to eat 12 grapes, one at a time. This is supposed to bring good luck and prosperity for all 12 months of the year and in many places these grapes are washed down with a glass of Cava. After this the celebrations will carry on into the early hours of the morning.

However, January 6th Three King’s Day is the most important day in the Christmas calendar. There will often be a pageant on the 5^th of January where the children wait for the Kings to arrive (often the locals will dress up as the Wise Men and will be paraded through the town). The children will put their shoes outside, so the Three Kings can fill them with presents! It is traditional to eat, the “Roscón de los Reyes”, a large ring-shaped cake that is decorated with coloured cherries and other candied fruits, symbolic of the jewels that decorate the clothes of the kings. There is a little token baked inside the cake and the person to find it will be crowned King or Queen for the day!