Christmas in Spain is one of the most magical times of the year — a blend of centuries-old traditions, delicious food, family gatherings, and colourful celebrations that continue long after the 25th of December ✨. If you're used to Christmas being all about Santa, presents under the tree, and Boxing Day sales, Christmas in Spain may surprise you. The season lasts longer, the celebrations are bigger, and the traditions are wonderfully different.
For Spanish learners, Christmas in Spain is also the perfect opportunity to discover new vocabulary, hear real-life Spanish in context, and understand cultural habits that shape everyday communication.
Let’s explore everything you need to know — paso a paso. 🎄🇪🇸
In Spain, Christmas is above all a time for socialising and being together. During the Christmas season, people don’t just meet once — they usually have many different meals with family, friends and colleagues.
🍽️ Families often organise several family lunches and dinners, especially on Nochebuena (24 December), Navidad (25 December) and again around Nochevieja (New Year's Eve) and Día de Reyes (6 January).
🥂 Friends also meet for Christmas meals, often in restaurants, to celebrate the end of the year together. 💼 Very typically, many people attend a company Christmas lunch or dinner (comida o cena de empresa) with their work colleagues — something that may happen in early or mid-December.
Cities and towns across Spain completely transform at Christmas time. Streets, squares and shopping areas are decorated with luces de Navidad ✨, creating a great festive atmosphere. Many towns also display impressive portales de Belén, sometimes life-sized, which people visit with their families. 🏙️ It’s very common to hear Spaniards say: Vamos a ver las luces (Let’s go and see the Christmas lights.)
Portal de Belén in Seville. They usually simbolise a nativity scene and are displayed in homes 🏡 and town squares 🏙.
Spain is also known for its regional Christmas traditions, which make the celebrations even more unique. 🎁 In Catalonia, children celebrate with el Tió de Nadal (also called Cagatió), a smiling wooden log that is fed in the days before Christmas. On Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, children hit the log with sticks while singing songs, and the log ‘poops’ 💩😂 presents — a tradition that children absolutely love.
Other regions have their own customs, songs and local food, meaning that Christmas in Spain can feel very different depending on where you are. Overall, Christmas in Spain is not just one day, but a long, social and lively season, full of meals, lights, traditions and shared moments — all celebrated in a very Spanish way 🇪🇸🎄
22 December marks the start of the real Christmas feeling in Spain. On this day, the famous Christmas Lottery (Lotería de Navidad) takes place.
📺 All over the country, people watch TV as the children of San Ildefonso sing the lottery numbers 🎶. Offices, bars and families follow the draw together, hoping to hear El Gordo — the big prize 💰.
🎟️ Lotería de Navidad — Christmas Lottery
👦 Niños de San Ildefonso — children who sing the numbers
💰 El Gordo — the jackpot
🎥 Here you can watch the winning number from last year’s Christmas Lottery — a great way to practise and remember numbers in Spanish while discovering a real Spanish tradition. 👂👇
24 December is Christmas Eve, one of the most important family nights of the year.
🍽️ Families usually have a big dinner at home, sitting around the table for hours. Typical sweets include turrones, mazapanes and polvorones. In many homes, especially with young children, Papá Noel arrives that night with presents 🎅🎁.
🏠 The atmosphere is warm, emotional and very familiar. Some people go to Misa del Gallo at midnight, while others stay at home talking and celebrating.
🎄 Nochebuena — Christmas Eve
🍽️ Cena familiar — family dinner
🎅 Papá Noel — Santa Claus
🍬 Turrones / mazapanes / polvorones — Christmas sweets
In Spain, 25 December is a public holiday 📅, so people do not work and the pace of the day is slow and relaxed.
🍽️ The day usually revolves around a big family lunch. Families get together, sit around the table for hours, talk, laugh and enjoy traditional food. After lunch, many people stay at home to rest 😌, watch TV 📺 or go for a walk. 🍻
However, Christmas Day in Spain is not only about staying at home. In the afternoon, it is very common for people to go out with friends. Because it is a holiday and bars and cafés are open and the streets have a great atmosphere ✨.
🎁Some families exchange small presents on this day, especially with children, but for most people, the main presents arrive on 6 January 🥳.
🎄 Navidad — Christmas
📅 Día festivo — public holiday
🏙️ Buen ambiente — good atmosphere
😌 Día tranquilo — relaxed day
28 December is one of the funniest days of the year in Spain. It’s basically the Spanish version of April Fool’s Day.
😂 On this day, people play jokes on friends, family and colleagues. The jokes are called inocentadas, and even newspapers and TV programmes publish fake news for fun.
😂 Día de los Santos Inocentes — Holy Innocents’ Day
🎭 Broma — joke
📰 Noticia falsa — fake news
😜 Gastar una broma — to play a joke
31 December is New Year’s Eve, one of the most iconic nights in Spain.
🍇 The main tradition is to eat twelve grapes (las doce uvas) at midnight, one grape with each bell sound (campanada) ⏰. This is believed to bring good luck for the new year 🍀.
🎉 People usually celebrate at home first and then go out to parties, clubs or private celebrations with friends.
🎆 Nochevieja — New Year’s Eve
🍇 Las doce uvas — the twelve grapes
⏰ Campanadas — bell chimes
6 January is one of the most important days of Christmas in Spain, especially for children. For many families, this is the real Christmas Day, because it is when most presents are given 🎁.
🎉 The celebration actually starts the day before, on 5 January, with the famous cabalgata de Reyes. Cities and towns organise big parades with music 🎶, floats 🚚✨ and the Three Kings throwing sweets 🍬 to the crowd. Children go out with their families, full of excitement.
The night of the 5 January, before going to bed, children usually:
👟 Leave their shoes somewhere visible
🥛 Leave water or milk for the Kings
🐪 Sometimes leave food and water for the camels
📬 Many children have written a letter to the Kings days or weeks before, asking for presents and promising to behave well. 🎁 On the morning of 6 January, children wake up early and run to the living room to open their presents. It is a very emotional and joyful moment in Spanish homes 💖.
🍰 Later that day, families usually share a Roscón de Reyes, a traditional cake eaten at breakfast or in the afternoon with coffee. Inside the cake, there are surprises that make the moment even more fun 😄.
👑 Reyes Magos — Three Wise Men
🎉 Cabalgata — parade
🍬 Caramelos — sweets
🍰 Roscón de Reyes — Kings’ cake
🎁 Regalos — presents
✨ Did you know all these Christmas traditions in Spain? Tell me in the comments how Christmas is celebrated in your country.