Twas the night before Christmas, when all through
the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St Nicholas soon would be there.
The children were nestled all snug in their beds……...
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St Nicholas soon would be there.
The children were nestled all snug in their beds……...
What? Not a chance!.....
Spanish children go to bed when their parents go to
bed. If the adults are partying all night, then so are the children.
On Christmas Eve all over Spain, the family
gathers together in the grandparents' home, alternating grandparents from one
year to another, but all the women and many of the men help in the preparation
of the evening meal - a veritable feast - which begins about 10 p.m. and can go
on until the small hours.
This meal is one of the
most important meals of the year.
Seafood is widely eaten
and families often hang a ‘pata de jamon’ in their kitchen and slice off cuts
of cold ham over the Christmas period. Slicing the ham is a fine art and not easy to
get it as wafer thin as it should be.
Some sing carols around
the crib of the nativity scene (Belen) which remains without the baby until the
stroke of midnight.
Other families go to
midnight Mass but many in modern-day Spain watch the Christmas programmes on TV
while washing down Christmas sweetmeats of Turron
(similar to nougat, made with toasted, sweet almonds), Mantecas (a range of
butter-based biscuits) and Polverones, (a
cake/biscuit made with almonds, flour, and sugar) with Cava (Spanish champagne)
after their meal.
Spaniards'
love of good food and wine and the leisurely sharing of it and good company is
optimised over the festive period.
Christmas
Day, is an altogether quieter day.
While
there is some giving of gifts at Christmas these days, particularly to the
children, the traditional time of giving and receiving is January the 6th, the
Epiphany or "Los Reyes" ("The Kings").
