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48 free Spanish Christmas trivia questions with answers — trivia quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
This Spanish Christmas trivia quiz covers how Spain celebrates from Nochebuena on 24 December through Epiphany on 6 January: the big family dinner, Misa de Gallo, the Christmas lottery and its singing schoolchildren, Día de los Santos Inocentes, the Twelve Grapes at Puerta del Sol, the Cabalgata de Reyes and the roscón with a bean baked inside. It also covers the regional characters that make Spain unusual, from Catalonia's Caga Tió and the caganer to the Basque Country's Olentzero. There are questions on food too, including turrón from Jijona, Toledo marzipan and polvorones from Andalusia, plus villancicos and the belén tradition. About a third of the questions are easy for anyone who has spent a December in Spain, a third need a closer knowledge of the customs, and the rest reward people who know the history behind them, such as the year the lottery started and where the oldest Three Kings parade was held. Every answer was checked against Wikipedia's articles on the traditions before publishing, and each question carries the sentence that establishes it. If you think one is wrong, use the report button and we will look again.
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Q 01What is the Spanish name for Christmas Eve, the night of the big family dinner?
Nochebuena
Nochebuena, literally 'Good Night', is Spanish for Christmas Eve, 24 December, the night of the biggest family meal of the season in most regions.
Q 02Which feast marks the traditional end of the Spanish Christmas season?
Epiphany
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.
Q 03What is the Spanish word for the nativity scene displayed in homes, schools and shops?
Belén
Belén, the Spanish name for Bethlehem, is the word for a nativity scene; the same term is used in the Philippines.
Q 04Which saint's day is celebrated in Catalonia on 26 December with another family gathering?
Stephen
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.
Q 05Traditionally, who brought Spanish children their presents on the night of 5 January?
The Three Magi
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.
Q 06What is the Spanish name for New Year's Eve?
Nochevieja
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.
Q 07What is traditionally eaten for breakfast after a Spanish New Year's Eve party?
Churros with chocolate
Churros with chocolate are the classic dawn breakfast after the Nochevieja cotillón, which runs in bars and clubs until the next morning.
Q 08What do Spanish children put out on the night of 5 January to receive presents from the Three Wise Men?
Their shoes
They put out their shoes on the night of 5 January, along with sweets for the Kings and water for the camels.
Q 09What is the Spanish name for the Three Kings parade held on the evening of 5 January?
Cabalgata de Reyes
The Cabalgata de Reyes, the Three Kings' cavalcade of 5 January, passes through practically every Spanish city and village and is often televised.
Q 10Where was the oldest documented Three Kings cavalcade held, in 1855?
Barcelona
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.
Q 11How do the Magi enter Spanish children's homes, according to the tradition?
Through the balconies using ladders
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.
Q 12What is the nickname of the first prize in the Spanish Christmas Lottery?
El Gordo
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.
Q 13Who sings out the winning numbers of the Spanish Christmas Lottery draw?
Q 21Which Madrid square's clock marks the twelve strokes of the New Year on national television?
Puerta del Sol
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.
Q 22In what year did television broadcasts of the Madrid New Year's chimes begin?
1962
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.
Q 23What is hidden inside a Spanish roscón de reyes that obliges the finder to pay for the cake?
A dried bean
Pupils of the San Ildefonso school
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.
Q 14Which venue became home to the Spanish Christmas Lottery draw in 2012?
The Teatro Real in Madrid
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.
Q 15In what year was the first Lotería Nacional draw held at Christmas, in Cádiz?
1812
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.
Q 16What is a décimo in the Spanish Christmas Lottery?
A one-tenth share of a ticket
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.
Q 17Who became the first girl to sing the lottery results, in 1984?
Mónica Rodríguez
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.
Q 18In 2011 the entire El Gordo prize was sold in Grañén, a town in which province?
Huesca
Huesca: Grañén, a town of about 2,000 people in Huesca province, Aragon, held all 180 series of the 2011 winning number 58268.
Q 19What do Spaniards eat with each of the twelve midnight bell strikes on New Year's Eve?
Grapes
Each grape stands for one of the coming twelve months and is supposed to bring good luck.
Q 20Growers from which region popularised Spain's midnight New Year's grape custom in 1909 to shift a bumper harvest?
Alicante
The custom is recorded from at least 1895, but the surplus of 1909 turned it into a national habit.
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.
Q 24What is the roscón de reyes dough flavoured with in Spain?
Orange blossom water
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.
Q 25What are the main ingredients of turrón, the nougat eaten across Spain at Christmas?
Honey, sugar, egg white and almonds
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.
Q 26By what name was Jijona, the turrón-making town, formerly known?
Sexona
Sexona was the medieval name of Jijona (Xixona), the Valencian town whose name is printed on boxes of the soft variety of turrón.
Q 27Which Spanish city's marzipan, first documented in 1512, holds EU protected status alongside Lübeck's?
Toledo
Elsewhere in Spain mazapán is a Christmas sweet, but in Toledo it is eaten all year round.
Q 28Polvorones, the crumbly Christmas shortbread, are mostly produced in which Spanish region?
Andalusia
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.
Q 29What is the Tió de Nadal, the Catalan Christmas character?
A log that is beaten until it drops presents
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.
Q 30From which feast day do Catalan children start feeding the Tió de Nadal each night?
The Immaculate Conception, 8 December
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.