Spain this christmas

[magnusiax]

EIBTM is the leading exhibition for the conference, incentives, events, business travel and meetings industry, held in the fantastic Mediterranean city of Barcelona. Our aims are simple...to promote the best business-to-business exhibition floor, supported by the best networking and best professional education, underpinned by an expanded and global Hosted Buyer Programme.
Dates: December 2-4, 2008
Venue: Fira Gran Via
City, Country: Barcelona, Spain

• December 8 - Inmaculada. Christmas starts here. Biggest in Seville.
• December 13 - El Dia de Santa Lucia, patron saint of the blind, who sing Christmas carols in the streets. Most popular in Las Palmas.
• December 21 - Hogueras in Granada & Jaen.
• Last Thursday Before Christmas Eve - 'Noche Vieja Universitaria' (University New Year's Eve) in Salamanca.
• December 22 - El Gordo, the massive Spanish lottery, is drawn. This lottery is so big, they start selling tickets in August! Read more on Christmas Lottery in Spain - 'El Gordo'.
• December 24 - Christmas Eve (Nochebuena), a far bigger event than Christmas Day. Expect most shops to close early on the 24th and remain closed until the morning of the 26th.
• December 25 - Christmas Day - a quiet day, with most shops closed, though many bars open in the afternoon.
• December 28 - Santos Inocentes, Spain's version of April Fools' Day.
• December 31 - New Year's Eve (Nochevieja).

[travelgeek]

can explain more about Hogueras ?

[2d0k]

wow! a marathon of activities! i'm sure it is fun just to experience each day in Spain before Christmas..

[Martin Ricky]

Christmas Day is a national holiday in Spain so shops are closed yet it is not a day of great celebration but rather a calm day when people go out for a walk, drop into a bar, etc.

[Trevor]

The first thing that the visitor will notice is that Christmas in Spain is not as huge a commercial occasion as is the case in many other western cities. Christmas lights are usually lit in the main cities in the first week of December by which time the shops are fully stocked with Christmas supplies. Nothing like the US and UK where the end of summer marks the build up to Christmas.

[archiearch]

Spending Christmas at home can always be stressfull i have had many of christmas,s spoilt by family rows and what not thats why i decided last year to give in and go to tenerife for christmas and never looked back i strongly recomend it.And if your worried about the christmas dinner as i was dont there food was superb and its a change form the norm.

[andreson]

Spain is more than bullfights, flamenco dancers and crowded beaches. It's a spectacular and diverse country, the north resembling the rolling, green hills of Ireland and the south giving you a taste of Moroccan landscapes and architecture. Its tremendous history is reflected in its prehistoric cave paintings, Moorish palaces, crumbling castles, Roman ruins, Gothic and Renaissance cathedrals as well as some very distinctive modern architecture.