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How do they celebrate Christmas Eve ‘Nochabuena’, Christmas Day ‘el Día de Navidad’ and New year’s Eve and Day ‘Nochevieja y Año nuevo’ in Spain?
Well, our traditions aren’t very different from the Spanish ones. Like our traditions, it involves plenty of food and -contrary to what you may have suspected- this doesn’t mean tapas but turkey ‘Pavo’.
The key difference is that they dine much later than us, with the mayor advantage of having more time for appetizers.
At New Year’s Eve though, there is one curious tradition. Near midnight everyone has a bunch of grapes at hand; with every clock chime Spaniards eat one grape ‘una uva cada campanada de reloj’.
This is said to bring guaranteed good fortune for the New Year. And obviously they drink Cava instead of Champagne throughout the evening!
Epiphany Day is quite similar to St Nicolas Day. Spanish children put their shoe under the Christmas tree on the Epiphany Eve, and the next day ‘el día de Reyes’ they receive their presents. At least in Spain children have no illusions about who brings the gifts, poor old St Nicolas is a stranger to them.
And the 28th of December is the Feast of the Holy Innocents ‘el Día de les Inocentes’, a holiday much like April Fool’s Day, celebrated with pranks ‘inocentadas’ and jokes.