Moraira at Christmas

The Spanish Christmas is not the long drawn-out commercial event that we are used to in the UK. The initial festive stirrings commence at the end of November or the beginning of December.

Being a predominantly Catholic country, the Spaniards do not lose sight of the religious side of the festivities and every home (and many business premises) features a Belèn – an elaborate nativity scene; in Javea the Belèn is a particularly large work of art featuring a more general biblical scene, including smoking camp fires and all sorts of other features, the entire scene must measure around 40 x 20 metres, and fully merits a 10-15 minute viewing. During December the main streets of all towns and villages are festooned with lights displaying all the usual yuletide motifs.

Most homes and many businesses feature Christmas trees and decorations; Christmas cards have become widely available, whereas they were not seen, just twenty years ago! We can remember that ten years ago it was almost impossible to guarantee the availability of a Christmas turkey or the ubiquitous brussel sprouts; thanks to the growing cosmopolitan community, we can rely on supplementing such seasonal delights with locally purchased cranberry sauce, brandy butter etc. A chronology of seasonal events is broadly as follows:

8^th December:  The first public holiday and the beginning of the festivities are known as the ‘Inmaculada’- the Feast of the Immaculate Conception which is a national holiday.

22^nd December:  ‘El Gordo’ (the Fat One) relates to the largest lottery draw of the year with three huge prizes and thousands of smaller ones, the tickets being bought, and the proceeds shared, between villages, business employees and other communities. This amounts to an entire mornings viewing on national T.V. where the selected numbers are sung out by children’s’ choirs.

24^th December: ‘Noche Buena’ (The Good Night – Christmas Eve, as we know it). This is very much a family affair and the main feast of Christmas with most restaurants and bars being closed for the evening. Locally, within the Valencian region, the focus of the meal is seafood with a vast variety of prawns, langoustine and crayfish, washed down with a selection of local wines and followed by the special, local sweet of ‘Turrón’ which is a almond and honey based confection of Arab origin.

25^th December:  Not an official part of Christmas for the Spanish, but still a national holiday reserved for recovery or for visiting friends and family; usually celebrated with a large meal with family or friends at lunchtime, either at home or in a local restaurant. Locally, in Moraira, hundreds of us congregate at the neighbouring bay of El Portet, some in fancy dress – usually as Santo, of course – for a communal pre-lunch cava and tapas party; this is held on the waterfront, with a number of hardy souls combining this with a swim! Thanks to the broader European influence, Spanish children now expect presents of some kind on this day.

28^th December:  ‘Santos Inocentes’ (Holy Innocents). This is Spain’s equivalent of  the UK’s April Fool’s Day. A day of jokes and trickery which is also embraced by the national media with their contribution of spoof news events.

31^st December:  ‘Noche Vieja’ (The Old Night). New Year’s Eve is celebrated in the near universal manner, traditionally with the eating of twelve lucky grapes as the clock strikes at midnight, one grape for each strike of the clock, and washed down with the obligatory cava!

1^st January:  A public holiday of rest and recuperation.

5^th January:  The evening heralds in the following day’s Feast of the Epiphany. There are major processions staged across the whole of Spain in celebration of the arrival of the Three Kings - ‘Los Reyes Magos’. In Moraira, the arrival of the Three Kings is re-enacted on the beach, together with a stable, and a procession accompanied by a group of camels or other exotic animals and the random distribution of sweets thrown from the floats by the kings to children and other onlookers. The procession terminates at a life size nativity scene, staged within the plaza adjoining the church which features a local baby as Jesus. From an adjacent stage, outside the church, the Three Kings distribute presents to the children of the town.

6^th January:   Feast of the Epiphany. The big event of the year for local children who awake to find their main presents of the event! Traditionally a special cake called a ‘Roscón’ is shared between the family which contains a bean and a small figurine. The figurine brings the finder good luck, whilst the finder of the bean is expected to pay for the cake!

Chris Garwood – December 2011

Chris Garwood has lived in Moraira since 2001 and is a partner in the Moraira based Relocation Agency – Costa Blanca Select, and the related Moraira Real Estate Agents – Select Villas of Moraira.