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HOLIDAYS in SPAIN...
Rachel Peterson - September 1997

CHRISTMAS - NOCHE BUENA

Noche Buena ("good night"), the 24th of December, is what Spaniards call "Navidad" or Christmas. Christmas in Spain is a more traditional event than it has certainly become in the United States. Sure, there are some children who convince their parents that Papa Nöel or Santa Claus should bring them something on the 25th, but the majority do not. Most every town, even the smallest pueblos, can afford to put up hanging lights over the main streets. The odd thing about these light displays is that they are usually in the form of snowmen, santas, sleighs, stockings, or christmas balls - themes which are not prevalent in the Spanish Christmas home. While Spain pretends to be a very Catholic country - in theory and in government it is, in practice and religion it is not. I know no Spaniard who steps foot in a church unless a friend or relative is marrying there. Christmas, therefore, takes on a meaning which, I suppose, it takes on in most of the Christian-based European countries, and which it might in the US if we were not such incredibly gross consumers. The meaning of Christmas in Spain is family and food. People plan travel for months, and will take the days around the 24th (NOT the 25th) to be able to spend it with their families. Like our Thanksgiving, the day is centered around either an enormous Comida (at 3pm) or an enormous Cena (at 9pm or later). Much will depend on whcih family members have to work or travel.

The decoration of the home is sort of a commercial afterthought, and is organized depending on what the local junk shop or supermarket has for sale. The idea of a live pine tree has limited appeal in a country where the flats are tiny and wood is a scarce commodity even for necessities like furniture and paper. There are usually garland tinsel used to string around the living room ceilings, or to drape over the tops of prominently hanging pictures. When there is a tree, it is a small plastic one, sort of a token tree, with a few decorations and a garland. Again, the precedent for trees is non-existant and so it doesn't make much sense to fill a living room which is likely to be stretched to capacity with grandchildren, in-laws, and extra nieces and nephews anyway! There are usually candles, and since most spanish flats do not have a fireplace, there is no mantle for extra Christmas gee gaws. The one thing that almost all Spanish families do have, however, is a Belen, or a 'Bethlehem' scene (creche). Frequently just a simple manger with the holy family and a few shepherds, some commercial establishments empty their display windows in order to mount an extravagent miniature scene of Bethlehem - exactly how it was. Read more about the Belens below in the section on the Ephiphany.

The foods of spanish Christmas will depend much on where the family is celebrating, and what the specialties are locally. On the coasts there are traditionally plates of fresh fried fish and special shellfish, in the interiors there are great hams, beefs, and other heavy meats (occasionally duck or turkey). In the house in Salamanca where Roger spent Christmas, he was treated to not only the fine cured hams of the Castilla y Leon region, but because Fernando and Esther had travelled south from the Asturian coast (Oviedo), he was also treated to fresh shrimp, lobster, and crab meat. The sweets of Christmas are different from our US cookies. The Spanish eat polvorones (from the word 'polvo' or dust) a sweet, very light cookie which almost seems like it is cookie dust packed tightly into a big oval shape to dip in coffee and dissolve immediately therein. The big sweets are called turron (a favorite of my Italian sister-in-law). Blocks of hard or soft turron are produced at home, or commercially and sold for weeks before Noche Buena. The hard turron or turron from Alicante is a block of hard white nougat with whole almonds floating in it - you must break it into pieces before you open the package or you'll never be able to bite off a piece. The soft turron comes from all over and is the size and shape of a video tape. Every year Fernando and Esther make blocks and blocks of it, and curioiusly enough, they usually use empty video tape boxes in which to pack it and to send it to me in the states. The soft turron has the consistancy of marzipan, and the almond flavored turron tastes very like marzipan. Fernando also make soft turron in yema (egg yolk), lemon, cinnamon (a personal favorite) and orange flavors. They are delicious, easy to eat, and must be fattening beyond belief.

NEW YEAR'S EVE - NOCHE VIEJA

New Year's Eve (Noche Vieja, or 'old night') in Spain, like in most countries, involves drinking. I suppose that since this is the only activity that most people engage in at midnight on regular nights - that it should be that same activity on New Year's Eve as well. The cavas, or sparkling wines (champagnes) of Spain are quite good - In the US the Spanish name "Freixenet" is known as a decent champagne. Again, a family oriented society is likely to celebrate most holidays with family. The Spaniards typically ring in the new year in the comfort of their own homes, or more likely in the homes of their parents. The evening meal, la cena, usually starts at 10pm and runs on until well after 11:30pm anyway so there is little reason to hurry out into the streets to the bars and clubs to drink a toast amongst strangers by midnight. The Spanish either stay in for cena with family, or buy tickets with groups of friends for cotilliones. The cotilliones frequently include both a large expansive cena (much like the meal one eats at a wedding) and a series of coupons for drinks at the same location at and after midnight. The (frequently) floor-length gowns and dresses for cotilliones go up in the shop windows the day after Christmas and are as elegant as any first rate ballgown. Those Spaniards who are not interested in easting out will usually eat cena at home, ring in the new year, then go out and party well into the night at their local discothèques. in 1998-99, Roger and I were invited on a snowy night in Salamanca (a rare occurrance) to celebrate the new year with our friend Quinti's parents. We arrived at about 9:30pm, started in on the feast, and were just about ready to lift our champagne galsses at mignight. The Spaniards don't watch the 'ball drop' anywhere but crowd around their televisions just the same. In the Puerto del Sol in Madrid, the center of Spain (the point from where all distances are measured), the crowds gather every December 31st. Just before the twelve strokes of midnight there are a series of rapid strokes, then four measured strokes, and then the slow singular strokes of midnight. With each stroke of midnight we put a grape in our mouths. That sounds easy, doesn't it. Well, it isn't. Half of the gathered party choked, the other half ended the strokes with their mouths filled like chipmonks. The funny thing was going to the grocery store the next day and seeing the kilos and kilos of grapes on sale - like who wanted them then!

THE EPIPHANY - LOS REYES

What is Santa Claus anyway? The Spanish have a Christmas tradition that makes so much more sense, both religiously and historically. The 25th of December is a family night and for some a church night. Families all over the country will gather at, usually, parents or grandparents homes and feast late into the evening. The daily meals are usually large at mid-day (3pm), and are called the comida, and are slight in the late evening (10pm), called the cena. On Christmas Day, however, the feasting is really at the cena. In the Sanchez de las Matas Apio household in Salamanca, the sons and daughters and their spouses and children come "home" from Logroño, Oviedo, Cantalejo and provincial pueblos of Salamanca - bringing with them the culinary treasures of their own home regions - the rioja wines from Logroño, the fresh seafood from Asturias (Oviedo), the hams and sweets from Salamanca. The meal is long and rich and the family (when all are present, over 25 people) who is close, laugh, sing, and tell stories and tease each other unmercifully. The children (the cousins) play vigorous games of Parchesi while their fathers and uncles play 'mus' (an addictive Spanish card game) or other card games - sipping good Spanish brandies, crewing on Cuban puros (cigars) and arguing about messy Spanish politics.

Santa Claus doesn't come to real Spanish children - although in recent years the pressures of the international media have left some Spanish parents without hope of keeping their increasingly materialistic young ones from the pressures of yet one more day and way to receive gifts! No, in Spain, on January 6th, the Epiphany, the three kings come through town at night. The children leave their shoes out on the balconies (or outside their doors) with a little hay for the kings' camels. And the kings leave the children gifts as they are on their way to visit the Christ Child in Belen (Bethlehem). There are lots of little traditions that lead up to this event, of course. Each child has a favorite king, either the dark skinned Balthazar, the mercurial Melchior, or the jolly old Caspar - and some leave notes for 'their' king. In most small towns, particularly in the south, it is customary to build entire scenes of the middle-eastern birthplace of the holy child - with papier-mache - hills, scrub land, rivers, bridges (some have pools with live fish in them!), buildings, figurines, camels, pigs, sheep, shepards and the like. These 'scenes', called "Belen"s, can be viewed for a small fee just off the streets of these towns. Some of the Belens are wired with light or for some movement of the figurines. The money they earn usually goes for church groups or the peñas who have built them. For an American, the closest way to imagine these would be to picture an enormous setting for a model train set - but replace the train and pine trees and snow with the camels, palm trees, and the three kings, their camels and servant boys moving slowing toward the manger.

In many private homes these scenes are also built and displayed - usually on a living room table. On the 1st of the 12 days of Christmas (the morning of the 26th of December) the children wake to find the scene set in their homes. The kings and their retinues set far off the edge of the scene. And each waking morning for the following day the children can awaken to find that the kings have moved a little closer to the manger in Bethlehem. On the 12th day, the 6th of January, the Kings will have arrived, and the children will have received their gifts. So what does Santa have to do with it? Nothing. Thank goodness.

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