FELIZ NAVIDAD Y próspero año nuevo
El Belén Spanish houses are decorated with el Belén. The main characters are la Virgen María, San José and el Niño Jesús but there are many others: los Reyes Magos, el ángel, los pastores…
This is a Belén!
El árbol de Navidad Even if it’s a tradition originally from the northern countries, in almost every Spanish house there is un árbol de Navidad. We decorate it with bolas, espumillón, luces and la estrella.
El Gordo de Navidad On the 22 nd December Christmas starts officially. There is a big lottery draw, which is called el Gordo, and you can win lots of money. Every year, the students of San Ildefonso school in Madrid are the ones in charge of calling the numbers.
24 de diciembre On this day children go together singing villancicos (Spanish Christmas Carols) from house to house. They ask for el aguinaldo, which is the money given in Christmas.
Those are some of the instruments used for singing the villancicos! Zambomba PanderetaCascabel
Nochebuena On Nochebuena families get together to have dinner. They usually eat seafood, fish, stuffed eggs, ham, cheese... The traditional Christmas sweets are el turrón, los polvorones and los mazapanes …
El día de Navidad Even if Spanish children know who Santa Claus is he doesn't usually bring them presents. However, Spanish children do get presents! On the Epiphany three misterious men will come to Spain...
Día de los Inocentes The 28 th December is Spanish April fool's day! On that day people make jokes to each other and they say “¡Inocente!”
Nochevieja It is the last night of the year. Families get together to have dinner and at midnight they watch las campanadas on TV or they go to the town hall square. With every bell ring we eat 1 uva and we make a wish. A big party follows!
La noche de Reyes There are three Reyes Magos: Melchor, Gaspar y Baltasar. They come from the Far East in their camels and they leave presents in Spanish homes. On el 5 de enero at night people welcome them in their cities with big parades and the Reyes Magos throw sweets as they make their way.
Spanish children write a carta to them saying how they have behaved during the year and what they would like to get. On the night of the 5 th children clean their shoes and leave them by the árbol de Navidad or the Belén. They also leave food and water for the Reyes Magos and their camellos.
Día de Reyes On the 6 de enero children will get regalos if they have behaved otherwise they will get carbón. On that day we have chocolate caliente and roscón de reyes for breakfast.