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Never let it be said that the Spanish pass up an opportunity for a festival. Their economy may be going downhill faster than Man Utd's season but Spain will be celebrating over the Christmas period, albeit on different days to most of the rest of the world.
Christmas starts in Spain on 8 December with the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, a public holiday, which, coming 2 days after Constitution Day, another public holiday, means many Spaniards take this week off.
I mention this because we are still catching up on our sleep after our current campsite (Benicasim, on the coast north of Valencia) was swamped by fun loving Spanish families who made the most of all the hours of darkness to enjoy themselves. Their children, well taught by their parents, regarded a 300 metre distance between them and the recipient of their conversation as a challenge to the lungs rather than an impediment to speech.
Four almighty explosions and many smaller ones rocked the campsite one night. We assumed the local lifeboat was having a busy evening, it turned out be the celebration of the goals in the league match between Spain's two top football teams, Real Madrid and Barcelona.
Anyway the campsite is quiet again and the Spanish are getting ready for 22 December when El Gordo (the fat one) national lottery is drawn. We hadn't quite appreciated the cultural significance of this event, Spain comes to a halt as the 2.5 billion Euro prize fund (the world's largest) is drawn on live TV.
We thought of getting a ticket but they are 200 Euros each, though you can buy a 10th (decimo) ticket. Due to the cost, many tickets are bought as syndicates (villages, bars, clubs, families etc) which adds to the atmosphere on draw night. In a twist on most lotteries the winning tickets are drawn and then the prize so I hate to think what the heart attack rate is like on 22December!
Christmas Eve, Nochebuena, is the most important family gathering of the year for the Spanish and consequently Christmas Day is calmer (though still a public holiday). Unusually children receive their presents on 6 January, the Feast of Epiphany, and they are delivered by the Three Kings (Reyes Magos) as Father Christmas has gone home by then.
In between there is Santos Inocentes, 28 December, which is the Spanish equivalent of April Fools' Day, and the obvious New Year celebration (though midnight is a bit of an early evening start for them!)
Whilst driving down through northern Spain recently we encountered more local festivals as well. Donostia San Sebastien, a stunning Basque seaside city, was apparently overrun by men dressed as sheep with large udder like cowbells strapped to their backsides. Watching them strap each other up, a well rehearsed ritual, (see the attached photo album) was a slightly uncomfortable experience, these guys can teach the Welsh a thing or two about sheep!
Pamplona, 100 kilometres south, was in the midst of a Moors and Christians Festival (think El Cid, Charlton Heston movie) when we arrived. The city, synonymous with the Bull Run, was full of people in weird costumes and that was just the audience. One guy, dressed as a horse clown, had the job of whacking kids over the head with a soft sponge ball and chain. If I ever had to work with children, this would be the job, though I'd swap the sponge ball and chain for something more effective!
As we weaved our way through the labyrinthine medieval streets we came across different musicians and dancers, the latter's costumes making Britain's Morris Dancers look decidedly normal! There were hints of the Klu Klux Klan about some of the costumes, again slightly unnerving. A Basque band was notable for having four of the most unhappy looking accordions players you could ever wish to see (see the photo album for proof of that!)
Sadly we were too late to catch the Baby Jumping festival of Castillo de Mercia. The title says it really, men dressed as devils jump over babies lined up on the pavement! It is supposed to bring the babies luck and protect from future harm, unless the jumper mistimed his leap!
The biggest surprise about Morella, a beautiful walled medieval town 1100 metres up in the mountains of Castellon province and a beautiful 4 hour drive south from Pamplona, was that their major festival, Sexenni, only takes places once every 6 years (though those Latin educated scholars amongst you would work that out from the name!)
Morella has what must be one of the most scenic Aires (free campsite) in Spain, with stunning views of the city. Sadly the altitude meant very cold nights and not overly warm days so we carried on down yet another bendy, narrow and vertiginous road to the Mediterranean coast and the delta of the Ebro, Spain's largest river and one of the most important bird migration stopovers in Europe. The weather was much warmer here, which may explain the permanent population of flamingos!
The delta was a very odd place, mostly given over to rice cultivation. You half expected to see Vietnamese peasants wandering around! We are now south of the delta, heading for my Dad's for Christmas. We will be joined by Angela's Mum, Jo, who is flying out for a 3 week motorhome tour with us. We are planning to visit Granada, where there will no doubt be some serious festivities over the next couple of weeks.
Our Christmas has got off to a flying start; Angela has just won 65 euros at camp Bingo! (as in campsite Bingo not "ooh duckie, Dancing Queen…17!" bingo) Off to get an El Gordo ticket now!
Finally, as the Spanish might say,
Feliz Navidad y Próspero Año Nuevo
Thanks for reading these blogs and for all your comments, much appreciated!
- comments
Alfred Daniels Good to hear from you again. Nice story to read. I have read that 50% of the youth in Spain is already unemployed, wich makes it on th one hand easy to take time of and otherwise the festivals gives them hopefully some feelings of happiness to release their stress. Pictures and text gives me the impression that you are a keen observer, but feels quite a distance to the Spanish people. Are the Spanish difficult to relate to or is it just the language? Alfred
Ralph Hi Alfred Yes, around 50% unemployed for the 18-25 year olds. I think they spend most of their time spraying graffiti on the walls of houses and towns, never seen so much! It is difficult to relate to the Spanish, we are getting better at the lingo but they speak so fast and there are 20 plus dialects. English is rarely spoken so the language barrier is always there. Have a good Christmas