48 Fun Facts About Spanish Christmas

What is the Spanish name for Christmas Eve, the night of the big family dinner?

Nochebuena, literally 'Good Night', is Spanish for Christmas Eve, 24 December, the night of the biggest family meal of the season in most regions.

Which feast marks the traditional end of the Spanish Christmas season?

Epiphany, 6 January, closes the Spanish Christmas season, which opens with Nochebuena on 24 December; in Spain the feast is called the Día de Reyes.

What is the Spanish word for the nativity scene displayed in homes, schools and shops?

Belén, the Spanish name for Bethlehem, is the word for a nativity scene; the same term is used in the Philippines.

Which saint's day is celebrated in Catalonia on 26 December with another family gathering?

Saint Stephen's Day, Sant Esteve in Catalan, falls on 26 December and gives Catalans a second day of feasting, traditionally on canelons made from Christmas leftovers.

Traditionally, who brought Spanish children their presents on the night of 5 January?

The Three Magi (Reyes Magos) have traditionally brought Spanish children's presents on the night of 5 January; Christmas Day gifts from Papá Noel are a recent, imported addition.

What is the Spanish name for New Year's Eve?

Nochevieja ('Old Night') is Spanish for New Year's Eve, 31 December; after the family feast, young people head out to a cotillón in the bars and dance until morning.

What is traditionally eaten for breakfast after a Spanish New Year's Eve party?

Churros with chocolate are the classic dawn breakfast after the Nochevieja cotillón, which runs in bars and clubs until the next morning.

What do Spanish children put out on the night of 5 January to receive presents from the Three Wise Men?

They put out their shoes on the night of 5 January, along with sweets for the Kings and water for the camels.

What is the Spanish name for the Three Kings parade held on the evening of 5 January?

The Cabalgata de Reyes, the Three Kings' cavalcade of 5 January, passes through practically every Spanish city and village and is often televised.

Where was the oldest documented Three Kings cavalcade held, in 1855?

Barcelona held the oldest documented Three Kings cavalcade in 1855; the longest-running one is in Alcoi, in the Valencia region, first documented in 1866 and held annually from 1885.

How do the Magi enter Spanish children's homes, according to the tradition?

Through the balconies using ladders: the lore has the Kings and their pages climb up to the balconies while the household sleeps, which is why many children leave their shoes there.

What is the nickname of the first prize in the Spanish Christmas Lottery?

El Gordo ('the fat one') is the nickname of the first prize, worth €4 million per series since 2011; the term is used for the top prize of other Spanish draws too.

Who sings out the winning numbers of the Spanish Christmas Lottery draw?

Pupils of Madrid's San Ildefonso school, once reserved for orphans of public servants, sing out the numbers and prizes; only boys took part until 1984.

Which venue became home to the Spanish Christmas Lottery draw in 2012?

The Teatro Real in Madrid took over the draw in 2012; earlier draws were held at the lottery headquarters and, in 2010 and 2011, at the Palacio de Congresos.

In what year was the first Lotería Nacional draw held at Christmas, in Cádiz?

1812: the first Christmas draw took place in Cádiz on 18 December 1812, with winning number 03604; the name Sorteo de Navidad did not become official until 1897.

What is a décimo in the Spanish Christmas Lottery?

A décimo is a one-tenth share of a ticket: a full billete costs €200, so it is sold as a perforated sheet of ten €20 décimos.

Who became the first girl to sing the lottery results, in 1984?

Mónica Rodríguez, a San Ildefonso pupil, became the first girl to sing the numbers in 1984; until then only boys from the school had taken part.

In 2011 the entire El Gordo prize was sold in Grañén, a town in which province?

Huesca: Grañén, a town of about 2,000 people in Huesca province, Aragon, held all 180 series of the 2011 winning number 58268.

What do Spaniards eat with each of the twelve midnight bell strikes on New Year's Eve?

Each grape stands for one of the coming twelve months and is supposed to bring good luck.

Growers from which region popularised Spain's midnight New Year's grape custom in 1909 to shift a bumper harvest?

The custom is recorded from at least 1895, but the surplus of 1909 turned it into a national habit.

Which Madrid square's clock marks the twelve strokes of the New Year on national television?

The Puerta del Sol clock, atop the Real Casa de Correos, marks the twelve strokes; the square is also Spain's kilometre zero, from which the radial roads are measured.

In what year did television broadcasts of the Madrid New Year's chimes begin?

1962: Televisión Española carried the first broadcast of the Puerta del Sol chimes on 31 December 1962; the other major networks later added their own broadcasts.

What is hidden inside a Spanish roscón de reyes that obliges the finder to pay for the cake?

A dried bean (haba) is baked into the roscón and whoever finds it pays for the cake; a small figurine is also hidden, and that one brings luck rather than the bill.

What is the roscón de reyes dough flavoured with in Spain?

Orange blossom water (agua de azahar) scents the sweet brioche dough, which is decorated with candied fruit and often filled with cream or almond paste.

What are the main ingredients of turrón, the nougat eaten across Spain at Christmas?

Honey, sugar, egg white and almonds are the classic ingredients of turrón, sold as a hard rectangular tablet or a soft round cake; Italy's torrone is a close cousin.

By what name was Jijona, the turrón-making town, formerly known?

Sexona was the medieval name of Jijona (Xixona), the Valencian town whose name is printed on boxes of the soft variety of turrón.

Which Spanish city's marzipan, first documented in 1512, holds EU protected status alongside Lübeck's?

Elsewhere in Spain mazapán is a Christmas sweet, but in Toledo it is eaten all year round.

Polvorones, the crumbly Christmas shortbread, are mostly produced in which Spanish region?

Andalusia: the town of Estepa, in Seville province, is the centre of production, with dozens of factories making polvorones and mantecados; the name comes from polvo, meaning dust.

What is the Tió de Nadal, the Catalan Christmas character?

A log that is beaten: the tió is fed for weeks, covered with a blanket and then hit with sticks while children sing, until it 'drops' its presents.

From which feast day do Catalan children start feeding the Tió de Nadal each night?

The Immaculate Conception, 8 December, opens the nightly feeding of the tió; its gifts are small, and the main presents come from the Three Wise Men on 6 January.

What is the caganer found in Catalan nativity scenes doing?

The caganer ('the crapper') is a figure squatting and defecating, traditionally a peasant in a red cap; children are set the task of finding him in the scene.

What is the traditional red Catalan cap worn by the caganer called?

The barretina, a red wool cap worn by Catalan peasants, tops the caganer, a figure that has appeared in nativity scenes since at least the 18th century.

In which region of Spain does Olentzero bring children their presents on 24 December?

Basque Country: Olentzero, a rustic figure who comes down from the mountains on Christmas Eve, brings presents in the Basque Country and Navarre.

What trade does Olentzero follow in the most common version of his legend?

Olentzero is a charcoal burner (ikazkin) who comes down from the mountains; he carves wooden toys and carries them in his charcoal sack to the village children.

Día de los Santos Inocentes on 28 December is Spain's equivalent of which day elsewhere?

April Fools' Day: on 28 December Spaniards play pranks called inocentadas, and their victims are inocentes, a nod to the Holy Innocents slain by Herod.

The Ibi festival of 28 December features a mock battle fought with what?

Flour and eggs: in Els Enfarinats ('the floured ones'), costumed men in the Valencian town of Ibi pelt each other with flour and eggs and set off firecrackers each 28 December.

Misa de Gallo, the Spanish name for Christmas Eve Midnight Mass, literally refers to which animal?

A rooster: Misa de Gallo, 'Rooster's Mass', is named for the cock said to have crowed at midnight to announce the birth of Christ, which is why the Mass is held at midnight.

The Spanish word villancico, now used for Christmas carols, originally described what?

A song form with refrain and stanzas: the villancico was a 15th-century popular song with an estribillo and coplas; religious villancicos took over from secular ones in the 1500s.

Which friction drum, a skin-covered pot with a rubbed stick, traditionally accompanies Spanish villancicos?

The zambomba, a clay or tin pot covered with a skin through which a stick is rubbed, provides the droning rhythm of traditional Spanish villancicos.

Who organised the first live-actor nativity scene in 1223, the root of Spain's belén?

It was staged in a cave near Greccio in central Italy after Francis visited the Holy Land.

On which date is the Spanish Christmas Lottery's extraordinary draw held every year?

22 December is the fixed date of the Sorteo Extraordinario de Navidad, the biggest and most popular draw of the Spanish year, broadcast live for hours as the San Ildefonso pupils sing the numbers.

In the Spanish Christmas Lottery, what share of ticket sales is paid out as prizes?

70 per cent of the money taken in ticket sales is returned as prizes; each five-digit number is printed in well over 180 series of 100,000 tickets, priced at €200 each.

What is the nickname of Spain's second big Christmas-season lottery, drawn on 6 January?

El Niño: the Sorteo Extraordinario de El Niño, drawn every 6 January and named for the Christ Child, is Spain's second-biggest lottery draw after the Christmas Gordo.

The name turrón is thought to derive from a Latin verb meaning what?

To toast: turrón is usually traced to the Latin torrere, to toast or roast; the confection may descend from a Muslim recipe called turun eaten in Islamic Spain.

Which female character was introduced in 1994 to accompany the Basque gift-bringer Olentzero?

Mari Domingi, a woman in medieval Basque dress, first joined Olentzero in Irun in 1994; her name came from an older Basque Christmas carol.

In one Basque legend, Olentzero is the last survivor of which race of mythical beings?

The jentilak, the giants of Basque legend, tripped and died on the way to throwing an old man off a cliff, leaving Olentzero as the last survivor to embrace Christianity.

The Spanish roscón de reyes recipe derives from a crown-shaped cake from which country?

France: the roscón derives from the gâteau des rois of southern France, a crown-shaped brioche ring topped with candied fruit and eaten at Epiphany; Portugal's bolo-rei has the same root.

What do Spaniards call the hamper of ham, wine and sweets employers give staff at Christmas?

The cesta de Navidad is the hamper of ham, wine, turrón and other treats that Spanish employers traditionally give their staff in December.