Christmas in
SPAIN
and PORTUGAL
SPAIN:
Click here to hear the Central Valley Christian High School Spanish Class sing Feliz Navidad via RealAudio
Feliz Navidad! Feliz Navidad!
Feliz Navidad! Prospero aņo y felicidad!
Feliz Navidad! Feliz Navidad!
Feliz Navidad! Prospero aņo y felicidad!
Te deseo paz y alegria, te deseo paz y alegria.
Te deseo paz y alegria del fondo de mi corazon.
Te deseo paz y alegria, te deseo paz y alegria.
Te deseo paz y alegria del fondo de mi corazon.
Christmas is a deeply religious holiday in Spain. The country's patron saint is the Virgin Mary and the Christmas season officially begins December 8, the feast of the Immaculate Conception. It is celebrated each year in front of the great Gothic cathedral in Seville with a ceremony called los Seises or the "dance of six." Oddly, the elaborate ritual dance is now performed by not six but ten elaborately costumed boys. It is a series of precise movements and gestures and is said to be quite moving and beautiful.
Christmas Eve is known as Nochebuena or "the Good Night." It is a time for family members to gather together to rejoice and feast around the Nativity scenes that are present in nearly every home. A traditional Christmas treat is turron, a kind of almond candy.
December 28 is the feast of the Holy Innocents. Young boys of a town or village light bonfires and one of them acts as the mayor who orders townspeople to perform civic chores such as sweeping the streets. Refusal to comply results in fines which are used to pay for the celebration.
As in many European countries, the children of Spain receive gifts on the feast of the Epiphany. The Magi are particularly revered in Spain. It is believed that they travel through the countryside reenacting their journey to Bethlehem every year at this time. Children leave their shoes on the windowsills and fill them with straw, carrots, and barley or the horses of the Wise Men. Their favorite is Balthazar who rides a donkey and is the one believed to leave the gifts.
Email
From: Pam Marquez
To: cvchs@cvc.org
Date: Tuesday, December 02, 1997 10:06 PM
Subject: Merry Christmas in catalan !!!!
Hello
This is Francesc. I would love to share my Merry Christmas from a little
part of Spain called Catalonia where we speak in catalan and we say Bon
Nadal i Feliį any Nou that in English is Merry Christmas and Happy New
Year.
Sincerely , Francesc
PORTUGAL:
Christmas is celebrated in much the same way in Portugal as it is in Spain. The Portugese enjoy an additional feast, called consoada, in the early morning hours of Christmas Day. They set extra places at the table for alminhas a penar ("the souls of the dead"). In some areas crumbs are left on the hearth for these souls, a custom that derives from the ancient practice of entrusting seeds to the dead in hopes that they will provide a bountiful harvest.