Christmas in Spain

How Spain celebrates Christmas

The Spanish Christmas is long. For most of the country, Navidad runs from Christmas Eve to Epiphany on 6 January, but the mood starts earlier: town squares fill with Christmas markets from late November, streets are lit, and the 8 December holiday of the Immaculate Conception is when many families put up their nativity scene and tree. The real starting signal for millions of Spaniards is the morning of 22 December, when the Christmas lottery is drawn live on television.

Spain's Christmas is also strongly regional. Catalonia has its own gift-bringing log and Sant Esteve on 26 December, the Basque Country and Navarre wait for Olentzero, and every region has its own sweets. What unites the country is a late family dinner on Christmas Eve, the twelve grapes at New Year and the arrival of the Three Kings on 6 January.

El Gordo: the Christmas lottery

The Sorteo Extraordinario de Navidad, the Christmas Lottery, is drawn every 22 December, and its top prize, El Gordo ("the fat one"), gives the whole draw its popular name. The first Christmas draw took place in Cádiz on 18 December 1812; the name Sorteo de Navidad was first used officially in 1897. Since 2012 the draw has been held at the Teatro Real in Madrid, broadcast live by Televisión Española and Radio Nacional de España.

The numbers and prizes are sung out in a distinctive chant by pupils of Madrid's Colegio de San Ildefonso; until 1984 only boys took part. A full ticket costs 200 euros and is divided into ten décimos of 20 euros, and El Gordo pays 4 million euros per series, or 400,000 euros per décimo. Families, workplaces, bars and clubs buy and share décimos, so a winning number often brings a whole town or office its luck at once. Measured by total payout, the draw is widely considered the biggest lottery in the world.

Belenes: nativity scenes

The belén (from Belén, Bethlehem), also called nacimiento or, in Catalonia, pessebre, is the centrepiece of Christmas decoration in many homes, churches and public buildings. Many families build elaborate scenes with a stable and a whole village of figures, and town halls and parishes set up large public belenes.

In Catalonia, Valencia and the Balearic Islands, the nativity scene has an unusual extra figure: the caganer, a crouching peasant relieving himself, tucked away in a corner far from the manger. Dating from at least the 18th century, he was traditionally believed to fertilise the ground and bring luck and a good harvest for the coming year; modern versions depict footballers, politicians and celebrities. Figures and moss for the belén are sold at Christmas markets such as Barcelona's Fira de Santa Llúcia in front of the cathedral, first documented in 1786, and the Plaza Mayor market in Madrid.

Nochebuena and Christmas Day

Nochebuena, "the good night", 24 December, is the high point of the Spanish Christmas. It is a working day, but families gather in the evening for a long dinner that often starts with Ibérico ham, cheese and seafood such as prawns, followed by soup and a main course of roast lamb, fish or turkey, and ends with plates of turrón, marzipan and polvorones. At midnight some go to the Misa del Gallo, the "Mass of the Rooster", although far fewer Spaniards attend it than in the past.

Christmas Day is a national public holiday, usually spent with another family meal. Giving presents at Christmas was not traditional in most of Spain, but many families now exchange some gifts on 24 or 25 December from Papá Noel, the Spanish Santa Claus, while keeping the main presents for the Three Kings.

Regional Christmas traditions

Catalonia: the Tió de Nadal

The Tió de Nadal, popularly known as Caga Tió, is a log, usually given a painted face and little legs. From 8 December the family covers it with a blanket so it will not be cold and "feeds" it every night. On Christmas Eve or Christmas Day the youngest of the household beat it with sticks while singing a song that orders it to "poo", and then reach under the blanket to find sweets, nuts, turrón and small presents, shared among everyone present. Catalans also celebrate Sant Esteve, 26 December, with another family meal; it is a public holiday in Catalonia.

The Basque Country and Navarre: Olentzero

In the Basque Country and Navarre, presents are brought by Olentzero, a Basque peasant and charcoal burner in a beret, often shown with a pipe and a face smudged with charcoal, who traditionally arrives late on 24 December. Since 1994 he has been accompanied by Mari Domingi, a woman in medieval Basque dress. In some places, including Lesaka in Navarre, an Olentzero effigy is burned at the end of the celebrations.

Día de los Santos Inocentes: 28 December

The feast of the Holy Innocents, 28 December, remembers the infants killed on King Herod's orders in the Gospel of Matthew. In Spain it has become a day of practical jokes, inocentadas, much like April Fools' Day: newspapers, television and websites run spoof stories, and victims of a prank are called inocentes. In Ibi, in the province of Alicante, the long-running Els Enfarinats festival sees men in mock military dress take over the town for the day, with a battle of flour, eggs and firecrackers.

Nochevieja and the twelve grapes

New Year's Eve, Nochevieja ("the old night"), begins with a big family dinner. Just before midnight, the country tunes in to the clock on the Real Casa de Correos in Madrid's Puerta del Sol, where crowds gather and from where the chimes have been broadcast on Televisión Española since 1962. On each of the twelve strokes of midnight, people eat one grape, las doce uvas de la suerte, the twelve lucky grapes, one for each month of the coming year. The custom is recorded from at least 1895 and spread widely in 1909, when grape growers in Alicante promoted it to sell a surplus harvest; in the days before, grocery stores stock up on grapes.

After the grapes come cava and greetings, and many younger people head out to a cotillón, a New Year's party that lasts until morning, ending with churros and hot chocolate. Earlier that evening, thousands of runners take part in the San Silvestre Vallecana race in Madrid. Many Spaniards also send greetings to family and friends around midnight, and free Nochevieja greeting cards and New Year wishes, including Happy New Year 2027 cards, status images and ready-to-send messages, make that easy to do from a phone.

The Three Kings: 5 and 6 January

For many Spanish families the most important day for presents is 6 January, Epiphany, the Día de Reyes. Letters are written to the Three Kings, Melchor, Gaspar and Baltasar, and on the evening of 5 January towns and cities hold a Cabalgata de Reyes, a parade of floats from which the Kings and their pages throw sweets to the crowds. The parade in Alcoi, Alicante, has been held continuously since 1885, with roots going back to 1866, and is often described as the oldest in Spain; there, pages climb long ladders to deliver gifts to the balconies of houses.

That night shoes are left on a balcony or windowsill, and in the morning they are surrounded by presents. Breakfast or tea on 6 January centres on the roscón de reyes, a ring of sweet bread flavoured with orange blossom water and topped with candied fruit, often filled with cream. A small figurine and a dried broad bean are hidden inside: whoever finds the figure is lucky, and whoever finds the bean traditionally pays for the roscón. Epiphany is a public holiday, and the end of the Christmas season.

Traditional Spanish Christmas food

Several Christmas sweets are protected by European geographical indications: the Jijona y Turrón de Alicante PGI covers both soft and hard turrón from the province of Alicante, while Polvorones de Estepa, Mantecados de Estepa and Mazapán de Toledo are also PGIs.

Public holidays over Christmas

Spain's 2026 national holiday calendar, published in the Boletín Oficial del Estado (BOE), includes Tuesday 8 December (Immaculate Conception) and Friday 25 December (Christmas Day). Constitution Day, 6 December, falls on a Sunday in 2026, so some regions have moved that holiday to Monday 7 December. 1 January and 6 January are public holidays across Spain. 24 and 31 December are working days, although many businesses close early, and 26 December is a holiday only in Catalonia, where it falls on a Saturday in 2026.

Spanish Christmas season dates 2026

Christmas in Spain: frequently asked questions

Christmas in nearby countries