Comida, cultura, lengua y viajes — Food, culture, language, and travel!

With 2012 drawing to a close and the whole world getting ready for 2013, I thought I would share what we are planning to do to waiting to ring in the new year, and some of the distinct traditions as well.  During new year's, known as nochevieja, like many other holidays in Spain, family plays an important part of the celebration. Well before midnight, everyone arrives to have dinner and talk about what plans they have for the new year, what resolutions they have, and to express hope for an even better year to come. The following are a few Spanish new year's customs, some of which sound pretty familiar, and some that differ from what we may associate with a traditional new year's celebration:


1. You have to wear a pair of new, red underwear. Not only that, but it has to be gifted to you... That's the only way you can expect to have good luck in 2013!


2. Tune the TV to watch the countdown. In Spain, everyone tunes into a live feed of the Puerta del sol in Madrid to watch the clock tower on top of the offices of the Spanish postal service. Puerta del sol is an important place, as it's at the very heart of the Spanish capital, and is also Kilometer Zero from which Spanish roads radiate outward to the fringes of the county. When midnight is close, a special chime plays, and the quarter bells ring right before the clock strikes twelve. Everyone stands at attention at the quarter bells because of the next tradition...

3. The twelve grapes. When the clock starts to chime twelve times to mark midnight, for every bell-strike, a grape must be eaten. This can be a challenge for young and old alike, as they must be eaten in quick succession. Each grape signifies good luck for each of the twelve months of the new year. This traditions stretches all the way back to 1909, when grape farmers creatively devised a way to be rid of the season's produce surplus., and fortunately for them, it stuck.

4. Cheers with champagne. Not an unfamiliar tradition to most; bottles of Cava are popped open to toast to another year having come and gone.




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This is an additional installment to my first Christmas in Spain post (here). I came across a few more interesting Christmas traditions that I thought are worth sharing with you all.

Winter officially arrived here in Spain yesterday, December 21. You wouldn't have realized it though, since the temperature in Marbella (where I'm spending my Christmas holiday) has been hovering around 71ºF, and people are still building sand castles on the beach, and some guiris (tourists) are wearing their shorts and flip-flops.

Today was the Sorteo extraordinario lotería de navidad (the drawing of the christmas lottery). In the weeks and days leading up to Christmas, those who can afford to begin buying lottery tickets for the national lottery drawing. Starting around eight in the morning, a live broadcast of the drawing shows two large metal spheres that rotate to mix wooden balls, 1,807 prize amounts on one side (2.52 billion euros in total), and 99,999 different numbered balls that represent all of different ticket numbers sold in Spain. [Ten tickets, each called a décimo of each number are sold, thus ten people can buy the same number (i.e. the number 23,489) and they don't have to divide up the prize amount]. Next, two children on the stage announce (read: sing) the prize amount and the number that won it. When the largest prize (El gordo) is announced (4,000,000 euros), it is immediately broadcasted where that décimo was sold, and shortly after there are images of the winning families in the street, spraying champagne on each other.


Aside from the impressive Christmas light displays in every plaza and centro in the cities, the shopping malls are decked out with decorations just as they are in the U.S. Below is a picture I took this evening in La Cañada, a major shopping center in Marbella, which despite the country suffering from an economic downturn, has been full of people every weekend I have gone. While Marbella is a more affluent area of Spain, this also goes for other areas like Granada where I have seen a lot of consumer turnout, which seems like a positive contradiction to reports of high unemployment and poor economic performance in the country.


Back on the subject of Christmas food, the table has been covered with every type of chocolate and snack you could want, and the Roscón de Reyes (Kings' Ring), a traditional pastry eaten to celebrate the Epiphany will make its appearance on January 6th. It's filled with fruits and nuts, and hudden somewhere inside is a small toy figure - either of Jesus or others like little toys for kids - and a dry fava bean. If you find the small figure you get the crown in the middle, and if you get the bean you have to pay for the Roscón.


Stay tuned for more updates as they come along!


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As with any part of the world, the Christmas season begins in mid-to-late November, and Spain is no exception. The similarities and differences between the United States and Spanish holiday traditions are pretty interesting, and I'll be updating some of the most prominent ones here for you.

It all beings with the smell of roasting chestnuts perforating the cool evening air. The street vendors begin lighting their small, homemade metal drums when the temperatures begin to drop in November. Now, we've all heard the song "Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire" crooned when the seasonal soundtrack switches over, but this was my first opportunity to try this famous delicacy. Castaños as they're called in Spanish, are a common Fall and Winter snack here, and are practically available on every street corner. The Spanish eat them both raw and cooked, and not without good reason; it turns out that chestnuts are delicious. They're also perfect for warming your hands when you buy a small paper cone to snack on while you walk around at night.

During Christmas time, most Spanish households decorate their dinner tables and cover them with every type of chocolate and typical Christmas treat that you can imagine. One sweet that makes a sudden appearance in supermarkets and pastry stores alike are called polvorones. A polvorón is a typical Christmas pastry, made of flour, butter and sugar and it's shaped like a thick biscuit. The name "polvorón" comes from the spanish word "polvo" or "dust" because of it's propensity to break apart easily into little bits and dissolve easily. Mantecados are very similar to polvorones and differ only in texture and ingredients. Both come in a variety of flavors, a few of which can be seen below: traditional, almond, toasted sesame seed, and chocolate.

Polvorones and Mantecados

And finally, I would be remiss if I failed to mention turrón, a thick chocolate bar similar to a crunch bar, but with a more smooth, malted chocolate. Suchard is the go-to brand seen below.

The Christmas tree is a long-held tradition in Spain just as it is in the U.S., and in modern times more and more people are switching to plastic imitation trees in lieu of the natural option. This is evidenced by the fact that in Granada, I searched high and low to find a tree in the city with no luck. I went to several Floristerías, and even spoke to the owner of one who said that she no longer offers real trees because of the lack of demand. As I am partial to having a live tree and the smell of pine indoors for the holiday, the consensus was to go to a vivero (garden center) outside of the city to find one. I happened to be in Marbella the next weekend and managed to pick out a 25€ tree in the middle of the spectrum of Charlie Brown trees (10€) and beautiful, large balsam firs (100€+). The tree I chose had already been wrapped up, and to my surprise, included the roots and dirt. I instinctively asked when they were going to cut it for me, but it turns out that in Spain the tree is not cut down like in the U.S., but rather planted in the house in a macetero (flower pot) instead of a tree stand. And so, after making a large mess of dirt and pine needles, I finally had my real Christmas tree:


The cities set up their Christmas lights long before December, and with good reason: they are everywhere. A lot of the plazas have tall trees made of lights, and chandeliers and snowflakes hang in the streets. Every tree in the center is covered in lights. Christmas stands are also set up in all the major plazas, where they sell candied fruits, roasted nuts, chocolate, meats and cheeses, and wooden toys and handmade crafts from all over the country. This is one of the best times of year to walk around the city and really experience the Christmas traditions (not to mention flavors and smells) of Spain.

 


As Christmas draws closer, and presents are wrapped and turrón is consumed, millions of Spanish children await the arrival of Papá Noél and Los Reyes Magos (the Three Wise Men) to bring them presents on January 6th. That's right, Spanish children wait a full twelve days longer for their presents. Christmas Eve is still on December 25th, but it's strictly about celebrating together with family over a delicious dinner. In modern times, because of the influence of the U.S. traditions, some Spanish families have started giving presents on the 25th too, but it's not as prevalent, and January 6th continues to be the date most families choose to exchange gifts.


For more Christmas traditions, see my second post here, which details more traditional Spanish customs.


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