Catalan Christmas La Estrella de Navidad
In 2010 there are Christmas lights in more than 300 locations and the illuminations cover 60km in Barcelona city. One of the main themes in 2010 are “La Estrella de Navidad” decorations – the star of Christmas, designed by Ramon Bigas.Again this year you can see the 2m giant “Galet de Nadal” or ‘Christmas Pasta Shell’ displayed outside the food markets of Barcelona.
This decoration is inspired by the typical Catalan Christmas broth that is made using the shell shaped pasta.
You can buy galets de nadal in all supermarkets and markets at Christmas time.
Christmas in Barcelona is a definately a festive time with shops, streets and avenues of Barcelona decorated with Christmas lights.
You can dream of a White Christmas in Barcelona, but it probably won’t come true. Barcelona does sometimes get snow during winter, the chances of snow in Barcelona at Christmas are very slim. It can get cold and certainly chilly enough to make Christmas in Barcelona feel like a wintery experience. Generally the mid-day temperatures at the end of December are around 14 to 16 degrees Celsius and in the evenings the temperature can drop to between 7 and 15 degrees Celsius.
You can see Santa Claus in shopping malls in Barcelona and on Spanish Tv stations. The biggest day of Christmas traditions in Spain and Catalonia is not the 25th December to celebrate the birth of Christ either, but on 6th January which is when The Three Kings of the Orient, Balthasar, Caspar and Melchior “Los Reyes Magos†arrive at the crib of the infant Jesus. The tradition in Spain is for the Three Kings to bring the presents and not Santa Claus.
The Reyes Magos parade in Spain and Barcelona takes place on 5th January every year. This is the evening before Twelfth Night Epiphany which is 6th January, and it is on the 6th January that the children in Spain get the most presents.
