THE streets are ablaze with colourful lights, Nativity scenes have appeared in plazas and the scent of roasted chestnuts is filling the air: it must be December and that means Christmas markets…everywhere!
While globalisation has led us to expect a certain homogeneity on the high street – especially at this time of year when we can’t escape Jingle Bells as a soundtrack and Santa Claus as a motif – at the Christmas markets that pop up across Spain you’ll still find clues to long treasured traditions that are quintessentially Spanish.
Nowhere is this more apparent than at the annual Mercado de la Navidad in Spain’s capital where little wooden huts transform the cobbled square of Plaza Mayor into a veritable Santa’s grotto that won’t just get you into the Christmas spirit but provide a deep insight into Spanish traditions around the holiday season.
During the late 1800s when it was first held in the Plaza Mayor, merchants from across Spain brought their luxury goods to the Christmas market.
Once upon a time live turkeys were marched up the Calle Mayor in a cabalgata on Christmas eve when they would be slaughtered for the feast – until a municipal ban in 1894 forbade livestock in the city centre.
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Nowadays turkey isn’t considered much of a Christmas treat in Spain and families usually dine on seafood and roasted suckling meats on Nochebuena (Christmas Eve).
Bakers and confectioners from across Spain would bring regional specialities to sell at Christmas; crunchy almond turrón from Alicante, crumbly cinnamon-dusted mantecado from Antequera, delicate marzipan made by cloistered nuns in Toledo and powdery polvorones wrapped in brightly coloured paper.
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Such dishes remain as much of a Christmas staple in Spain today as Quality Street chocolates are in a British home and in markets across the country you’ll still find stalls dedicated to their sale.
Back then while their parents would shop for food, children would gather in groups to sing villancicos – an olden day version of Christmas carolling – and although it’s unlikely you’ll come across modern day youngsters doing the same, you may spot zambombas, the little hand drums beaten to accompany the singing, still offered for sale among the Christmas decorations.
In Madrid’s Plaza Mayor, huge numbers of stalls are dedicated to the sale of Nativity decorations – for each home traditionally sets up its own Belén. These go way beyond the traditional figures you expect to find in the Holy scene.
Alongside the handcarved figurines of Mary, Joseph and the Baby Jesus in a manger are the usual collection of accolades; A donkey, some sheep, the shepherds, the wise men, perhaps riding camels and of course an Angel.
But you’ll also find – in miniature – every aspect of village life, from a windmill to a washerwoman, to tiny market stalls laden with teeny replica fruit and vegetables.
Some families collect a new figurine to place in their Belén each year, replicating their own villages or building one from their own imagination.
Often Christmas markets are held in squares where the municipality has installed a Belén, some stretching across their own purpose built barn while others, such as the one in Alicante this year, are giant structures stretching into the sky.
Catalonia adds its own unusual twist to the tradition with the addition of a figurine known as a ‘caganer’ – a Christmas crapper.
You’ll find them squatting with their pants down in a corner of the Nativity scene, bare bottom visible above a little pile of poo in a tradition supposed to bring good luck and prosperity to every household.
Where once they came in the form of peasants in a white shirt and red beret they now depict famous figures from royalty and world leaders to sports icons and musical superstars.
At a Catalan Christmas market you’ll find entire stalls dedicated to the sale of caganers with bestsellers listed each year – Leo Messi and Donald Trump topped the charts last year.
Those in Catalonia should look out for another scatological figure, Caga Tió, a defecating log wearing a red beret and a big smile.
Tradition dictates that the creature is placed in a fireplace where on Christmas Eve children thump it with a stick while singing a song urging it to poo out gifts to the well-behaved.
More familiar Christmas decorations such as fir trees and mistletoe will also be prevalent at your local Christmas market – the former usually sold in pots as there are bans on selling cut trees in many places across Spain, while harvesting mistletoe from the wild is illegal.
Of course you’ll find depictions of Father Christmas or Santa at Christmas markets, it is only relatively recently that he has become part of the Spanish festive season.
Traditionally it is the Three Kings – or Reyes Magos – that bring gifts to children and not until the eve of Epiphany.
This highlight comes on the night of the 5th when processions are held across Spain with actors or local public figures dressing up as the magi to ride on elaborate floats and fling out candy to children lining the streets.
These days Spanish children expect stockings from Santa alongside their main gifts appearing on the morning of the 6th.
You’ll also find stalls strung with all manner of wigs and silly hats as Spaniards dress up to ring in the New Year on Nochevieja.
This is when, with each stroke of midnight a grape is popped into the mouth to symbolise good luck for each month of the coming year in a tradition that is peculiarly Spanish.
That’s why you’ll find packets of seedless grapes offered for sale with the sign “Lucky Grapes” as well as small tins of 12 grapes to simplify the process especially for those crowding into public squares to celebrate the New Year.
Confused about the prevalence of pranking paraphernalia such as plastic poos, whoopie cushions, pepper sweets or squirty lighters, for sale at some stalls?
While they might make ideal stocking fillers for cheeky youngsters, these items are bought to play practical jokes on friends and family on Spain’s equivalent of April Fools Day.
The Dia de los Santos Inocentes takes place on December 28 when people carry out ‘inocentadas’ on each other.
This is the day, rather than April 1st, when fake news stories appear in newspapers and on TV.
While you may not find a stall selling mulled wine, you can console yourself with a cup of chocolate and churros or even a slice of Roscon de Reyes, the sweet brioche decorated with jeweled fruit that is Spain’s defacto Christmas cake.
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