Christmas In Spain Essay Research Paper Christmas

Christmas In Spain Essay, Research Paper

Christmas in Spain is a very joyous and religious time of year. You will see that a Spanish Christmas has a lot of American influence but also has much of their own heritage in it. In small towns and villages it is more traditional and distinctly Spanish. It is in the bigger cities that you will find more American and European customs. For an example, will only see a Santa Claus walking around in Madrid and other big cities. The idea of Santa has spread through out Spain more today.

The climate and the language differ and so does Christmas in Spain. The Spanish customs and traditions in small towns also will differ than in the big cities. In Spain there are two regions, the north and the south. They are very different from another. The northern regions decorate their homes with holly and mistletoe when the nativity comes. The southern region decorates their homes with geraniums and heliotrope. You can see so much of the difference because of the climate and the culture. In the northern region it snows and it really never snows in the south. The cultures in the north are more of Roman and European because they refused the Muslim rule. In the south is influenced by Asiatic and Saracen culture.

There are many celebrations that the Spanish celebrate during the Christmas holiday. Christmas starts in Spain on December 1 to some people because that is when they start their advent calendars. Advent calendars are calendars that have a piece of candy or a treat for each day. Every day you get a treat but before you get it you have to say what you are thankful for. The calendar counts up to Christmas Eve. The other holidays are Immaculada, which is on December 8th, Christmas Eve, which is on December 24, Christmas day, which is on December 25, the Day of the Holy Innocents, which is on December 28th, The Day of the Three Kings Eve, which is on January 5th , and the Day of the Three Kings which is also known as epiphany is on January 6th. Within all of these celebrations there are certain parts throughout Spain that have different customs.

Immaculada that is on December 8th is a feast that officially starts the Christmas season. They celebrate it each year in front of the great Gothic cathedral in Serville. It is also called Los Seises or the dance of six. Ten boys that are dressed up in customs perform this dance. It is a sequence of movements and gestures, which are moving and beautiful.

To get ready for Christmas Eve, known as Noche buenas the .good night., the Spanish are big on decorating. Early in December is when the Christmas markets open up and there you can get decorations like wreaths, holly, greenery, candles, ornaments toys lights, trees, and supplies for the nacimentos also known as Bethlehem.s. The markets have a lot of American influence in them too. Some families put up Christmas trees. A lot of big city people live in apartments and it is very common for the complex to put a big tree in the center and decorate it with lights. The nacimentos is Spanish for nativity set. You will find one in every home. The nacimentos consists of a stable, sheep, camels, and miniatures of the holly family. A club that is devoted to organizing the nativity scenes is people called Belenista.

When Noche Buena starts to come it is time for the cooks to start to cook. Food also varies from region to region. No Spanish cook can agree on the authentic way to prepare paella, which is flavored rice. Some other recipes are a flan, garlic soup, sweets and turkey. In Serville the turkey are driven down the roads while people stick their heads outs of the window to pick which turkey they prefer. They stuff the turkey with ham, pork sausage, onions, mushrooms, and if they can afford it, chestnuts, truffles, and dried fruit. Another common sweet, dulce, is a turron. It is a sweet made of sugar honey, almond, and eggs for the rich or the poor to in joy. The Noche Buenos meal is a huge dinner. The first course is fine cheeses with anchovies. In wealthier homes there will be glass of muscatel or Spanish sherry. Chestnut soup or creamy almond soup is a great second course. In most houses they will have a besqugo witch is a metteranium sea bream or a flounder. The main meal for Christmas Eve is called Pavo Trufado de Navidad, which is Christmas turkey with truffles; truffles are mushroom like delicacy found underground. For a noche Buena dessert they will have a turron with a fine wine. The Christmas dinner in never eaten until after the midnight mass called La Misa Del Gallo, the mass of the Rooster. Then the family comes over and eats.

After dinner many go out and sing Christmas carols. Every one will bring out their guitars and other instruments. The songs they sing are known as villancicos. They also gather around their Christmas tree and sing villancicos. Most of the Christmas songs sang are hymns of Christendom. An Old Spanish verse goes like this: Esta noche es Noche-Buena, Y no es noche de domir; meaning that, this is the good night, therefore it is not meant for sleep. A common song sang is El cant dels ocells, which mean carol of the birds.

On Christmas Eve it is custom to have out cards the have angles, baby Jesus, or the nacimentos set. The greeting cards most of the time will say, .Felices Pascuas. which means happy holiday, or Felices pascuas de navidad which means happy holiday of the nativity