Spanish Customs Practiced at Christmas Time

       The "Noche-buena," or Good Night, is Christmas Eve in Spain. Following midnight Mass, the streets are alive with singing and dancing crowds celebrating the holiday, and around the crib or nacimiento in each home, the children sing Nativity songs to the music of tambourines and guitars. 

       Throughout the day and until the Twelfth Night the festivities continue as friends and relatives exchange the season's greetings. 

Humble peasants with common works are included
in Spanish Nativities. Because Jesus came for all
people who depend on Him, these folk characters
are included in the venue around the tree or on
top of a table display, even though they were not
present at the original event in the scriptures.

       A survival of Roman days is the Urn of Fate, similar to that customary in Italy. However, it is not gifts which are placed in the traditional bowl in Spain, but the names of friends and acquaintances. Two names are drawn at a time and the two people thus paired are expected to be especially friendly during the coming year. The right names may even lead to marriage if the one who draws the papers from the urn can be persuaded to do a little romantic cheating. 

       The favorite Christmas tradition for the youngsters, however, concerns the visit of the Magi to Bethlehem. Folk tales have it that each year the Three Wise Men repeat their journey and pass through Spain on their way. Hence, on the eve of the Epiphany, the children fill their shoes with straw for the camels of the Three Kings. The next morning the straw is gone and the shoes are filled with presents. 

       It was customary in some areas to dramatize the anticipated visit of the Three Kings. The children would march to the gates of the city carrying cakes for the kings, figs for the servants, and hay for the mounts. As the sun went down it was believed that they would see the kings silhouetted on some distant hilltop as they journeyed on their way to Bethlehem. Then as it grew dark, the children returned home, eating the sweets they had brought. Later they would go to church with their parents and sing "This morn I met the train of the Three Great Kings of the East" as they knelt before the manger scene, which now had the Wise Men added to the figures around the stable. 

       In many areas the children have a special fondness for Balthasar. He is shown riding a donkey, the familiar beast of burden in Spain, and it is he who leaves the presents for them in the night. 

Christmas in Spain for little ones

 by Teacher Hubby Tech Support