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Excited for pre-Christmas Eve? With bracing ambiance all across the sphere, the month of December has made its cyclic appearance yet again in the global almanac. Accordingly, the pre-Christmas Eve planning has also started shaping up amongst the globetrotters. It is said that a carnival is best enjoyed with an expedition plan; especially if it is an international voyage then the festivity turns more intoxicating. And nothing could be as ecstatic as celebrating the Christmas in a country like Spain!

Being a propitious event, Christmas is celebrated all across the world with great gusto. Indian citizens who are planning their upcoming Christmas celebration in Spain need to keep a tab how the auspicious fiesta is celebrated in Spain:

Like any other country, Christmas is evenly devout in Spain. The Spanish believe that when Jesus was born, a rooster was crowing through the night. Taking this believe and practice further, people of Spain flock at the Midnight Mass during Christmas. For them, the event is also a festival of Christmas dinner, which is purposefully made and served to the devotees on the midnight of December 24th.  They call this special dinner ‘Pavo Trufado de Navidad’, which is a Turkey stuffed traditional Spanish dinner. If you are willing to take a bite of some of the finest seafood on the eve of Christmas, visit Galicia located in the North-West Spain region. You get to taste there a variety of seafood including molluscs, shellfish, edible crabs and lobster.

On Christmas night, the people of Spain walk across the streets carrying torches and music instruments like drums and guitars uttering ‘Esta noche es Noche-Buena, Y no Es noche de dormir’ meaning “Tonight is Night-Good, and it’s not night of sleep.” Besides, all the churches get beautifully decorated in Spain and people from different communities visit their nearby churches to pay their highest reverences to Lord Jesus and mother Merry. The enthusiasm can also be noticed amongst the children expecting different colourful gits, toys and chocolates from the Santa.

The festive fever of Christmas continues to stay alive in Spain even after 25th December when the Spanish celebrate a popular event called ‘Día de los santos inocentes’ (‘The Day of the Innocent Saints’) on December 28th. During this event, if you trick someone, you have to call him/her “Inocente”, means innocent. On this particular day, local news channel and newspaper run silly tales and comical gig. It is said that one the same day, innocent babies were killed as per the fierce command of King Herod when he was trying to kill baby Jesus.

One more sparkling eve, which is celebrated in Spain is ‘Nochevieja’ i.e. New Year. On the eve of Nochevieja, the people of Spain take part in an interesting grape eating ritual which they believe that eating 12 grapes with the 12 strokes at midnight will bring good luck for them in the coming year.

After witnessing a delightful Nochevieja if you continue be there in Spain till the first week of January, don’t forget to be a part of another interesting celebration called Epiphany, which means ‘The festival of the three Magic Kings’. This day (January 6th) is identified as the day of Christmas Story when wise man carries gifts for baby Jesus. Besides, in some parts of the city, visitors can also witness a spectacular Epiphany Parade.

So let this Christmas and New Year brings abundance of happiness for you in a foreign territory called Spain!