Today it is Christmas day. It is never quite the same here in Spain.

I think most people will feel that a real Christmas is a Christmas that resemble the happy memories they have of Christmas as a child and then try to re-create that each year. Ok, obviously providing there are happy memories.
If all your childhood memories of Christmas were shit, this might give you a chance to create a completely new kind of tradition which is just yours as Christmas is Spain for me even after all these years still doesn’t feel like a real Christmas.

First of all Christmas is not as big here as in the UK. You see, the real deal in Spain takes place on January 6th when the 3 kings come and hand out presents to the children. Los Reyes - The Kings the call it. So when the highlight of Christmas is not until January, they don’t start the whole decoration and general shenanigans until much later that Britain. I mean, I can sometimes get well into December before you start to notice Christmas around you. Which is good in the way that you don’t get utterly sick of it come mid December, but for me it also means that I am still warming up to the fact that Christmas is coming soon when suddenly it has been and gone.

It is nice that you are not bombarded with Christmas, but a little bit more wouldn’t hurt. Of course I live in a village down south in Spain and I don’t really know what it might be like in say, Madrid or Barcelona. It could be completely different. Le t me know if you live there and have celebrated Christmas there as well.