Christmas in Spain
GentaHi everyone!
Christmas is already around the corner! You can feel it everywhere in the street… the Cathedral and here in Camino. We all are in a Christmas mood 
My colleague Cassandra has decided to write something about Christmas in Spain:
Hi everybody,
With the holiday season around the corner and being so far away from home, I long for some sort of feeling that Christmas is coming. But now the lights are up along Passeig de Gracia and it really makes the difference!
As a study-abroad student, one of the most disheartening things is missing all of my family’s preholiday preparations. Coming from an Italian-Catholic family, Christmas is a huge deal in my household. My mother starts Christmas shopping in September, cooking up to a month before the holiday, our house is decorated with lights inside and out, and the amount of guests in attendance at our Christmas festivities is around 35 people. My housemate Hilly and I planned to listen to our first Christmas song together upon my return from Paris. A way that we have gotten ourselves into the spirit of various other American holidays such as Halloween and Thanksgiving was to decorate our rooms and doors. On Halloween, we even dressed up!
What I’ve chosen to write about today is the Feria de Santa Lucia which is a Christmas market set up outside of the cathedral in Placa de la Seu and Placa Nova. At this market, they sell many typical Catalonian handmade Christmas gifts. By going to this market, you will be able to learn about Catalonian Christmas traditions. For example, many stands sell a gnome-like figurine called a “caganer”. This figurine is not wearing pants and appears to be defecating on the Nativity scene. The “caganer” has a playful purpose, which is for the children to find him amongst the other more traditional figurines that compose the Nativity scene. The “caganer” is no longer permitted to be a part of the city’s official Nativity scenes; however, he still maintains his popularity amongst locals.
There are also figurines of the “Caga Tio”, which is a log that the children feed up until Christmas with the purpose of nourishing it to the utmost capacity. They later beat the log with the hopes that it will expel many presents. The Spanish equivalent of Santa are the “Reyes Magos”, who bring presents on January 6th, hence, our Christmas celebrations are not celebrated on the same day. Interesting and a bit odd to a foreigner that two of the most famous Catalonian Christmas traditions revolve around the defecation process, but each country has their own unique traditions!
For example, on Christmas my mom sets the table with only her finest China; however, the place setting also includes a party popper. Inside of the party poppers, are crowns that the entire family wears all day. It is always funny when my serious father ends up with a pink or purple crown and to watch everyone’s flimsy tissue paper crowns fall off their heads and get in the way of them eating their antipasto.
The Feria de Santa Lucia has already begun and will continue until Christmas Eve. It is a great opportunity to pick up traditional Catalan gifts for your family just in time for the holiday season and to learn more about Catalan culture, while enjoying the city of Barcelona!
Feliz Navidad! Bon Nadal! And MERRY CHRISTMAS!
