Barcelona’s Christmas runs on its own calendar. It starts in late November, when the stalls go up in front of the Cathedral, and it ends on 6 January, when children wake up to presents left by the Three Kings. In between come a smiling log that “poops” gifts, a squatting figure hidden in every nativity scene, and twelve grapes eaten in twelve seconds at midnight.
Our guests are often surprised by how different it all is. December here is mild and sunny, the streets stay lit until the small hours, and most of the celebrating is done outdoors. This guide covers what happens when, where to see it, and what you need to know about holidays and closures. Dates follow the same pattern every year, so you can plan around them.
How the Season Runs
The Catalan Christmas is long, and each date has its own custom.
- Late November: Christmas markets open and the street lights are switched on.
- 8 December: Families bring out the tió, the Christmas log.
- 13 December: Santa Llúcia’s day, with traditions at the Cathedral market.
- 25 December: Christmas Day, a family meal at home.
- 26 December: Sant Esteve, a second public holiday in Catalonia.
- 28 December: Sants Innocents, Catalonia’s version of April Fools’ Day.
- 31 December: New Year’s Eve, with grapes at midnight.
- 5 January: The Three Kings arrive by sea and parade through the city.
- 6 January: Reis, the day most children get their presents.
- 7 January: The January sales traditionally begin.
Christmas Markets
Fira de Santa Llúcia
The Market of Saint Lucia is Barcelona’s oldest Christmas market. It takes place on Avinguda de la Catedral and Pla de la Seu, the square in front of Barcelona Cathedral, and the first written record of it dates from 1786, which makes it more than 230 years old.
Walking through it on an evening in December, you smell the moss before you see it. Stalls sell bags of it alongside cork bark, little clay houses and figures for nativity scenes, the building blocks of the pessebre that many Catalan families still assemble at home. You’ll also find Christmas decorations, crafts, handmade gifts, tió logs in every size and simbombes. A simbomba is a friction drum, and it makes a low, rumbling sound. The caganer stalls draw the biggest crowds (more on him below).
The fair usually opens in the last week of November and traditionally closes on 23 December. It’s open daily from 10am to 9pm, with around 200 stalls. Around Santa Llúcia’s day on 13 December, the fair holds a day of traditional activities, and through the season a giant tió at the fair lets children try out the log-beating custom in the afternoons.
Fira de Nadal de la Sagrada Família
The square beside the Sagrada Família has its own Christmas fair, with close to 100 stalls selling nativity figures, caganers, tions, plants and sweets. It started in 1962 as an overflow for traders who couldn’t fit in at the Cathedral, and it’s a good alternative when the Gothic Quarter is packed. It follows a similar calendar, from late November to 23 December, and stays open a little later on Saturdays.
Fira de Reis on Gran Via
This one belongs to the Kings. Since 1877, the Fira de Reis has set up on Gran Via de les Corts Catalanes between Carrer de Muntaner and Carrer de Rocafort. Its stalls sell toys, games and gifts. It usually runs from mid-December until 6 January. On the night of 5 January it stays open until about 3am for last-minute shoppers.
In recent years a Christmas fair has also set up on Moll de la Fusta in Port Vell, and it stays until early January.
Lights and the City Nativity Scene
Walk up Passeig de Gràcia on a December evening and the light falls in sheets from one side of the boulevard to the other.
The city switches on its Christmas lights in the second half of November, with the main ceremony on Passeig de Gràcia, and they stay on until 6 January. More than 100km of streets are lit. Look for Gran Via and Via Laietana, and for Carrer d’Aragó, where the banners carry Catalan Christmas phrases. In recent years, Passeig de Sant Joan has had designs inspired by anime and manga. The lights come on at about 5:30pm and stay on until 1am, or 2am on weekends and the busiest holiday nights.
The city’s official nativity scene is free to visit. It’s now set up inside City Hall, in the courtyard off Plaça de Sant Jaume, from about mid-December until 5 January. The design changes completely every year, so it’s worth a look even if you’ve seen it before.
For music, the Palau de la Música Catalana holds its Concert de Sant Esteve on 26 December, sung by the Orfeó Català choirs. It has been performed every year since 1913.
Catalan Christmas Traditions
Caga Tió
If you’ve never seen this festive Catalan character before, we’ll forgive you for thinking we’re joking when we explain it.
The star of almost every household in Catalonia is the Caga Tió, which translates as “poo log.” It’s a small wooden log painted with a big smiling face and topped with the traditional red Catalan barretina hat.
The tió comes out on 8 December, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. From then on, the children “look after” it. They wrap it in a blanket to keep it warm and feed it a little torró every evening. The idea is that by caring for him and filling him up, he’ll be able to “poop out” their presents.
On Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, depending on the family, the children hit the tió with sticks and sing a special song that begins “Caga tió.” When the song ends, they lift the blanket and find what he’s left: sweets, turrón, nuts and small gifts. The bigger presents usually come later, from the Kings.
The Caganer in the Nativity Scene
Nearly every Catalan home sets up a nativity scene, the pessebre, but there’s an addition here you won’t have seen anywhere else.
The caganer is a peasant in a red cap who squats with his trousers down and poops somewhere in the scene. He’s usually tucked out of sight behind a bush or the stable. Finding him is part of the fun.
He’s believed to have entered Catalan nativity scenes in the late 17th or early 18th century. The folklorist Joan Amades explained that his droppings were meant to fertilize the soil and bring good luck for the coming year. Today he’s more of a satirical joke, and the markets sell caganers with the faces of politicians, footballers and celebrities.
Living nativity scenes
Catalonia also has a tradition of pessebres vivents, nativity scenes acted out by local people. The best known is in Corbera de Llobregat, in the hills west of Barcelona, where it has been staged since 1962. Visitors walk a route of about 700 meters through the scenes, which takes roughly an hour. It runs on weekends and public holidays from the second Sunday of December until the last Sunday of January, and tickets are sold online. Barcelona itself has a few smaller living nativities in its neighborhoods.
What Catalans eat at Christmas
Christmas Day lunch is built around escudella i carn d’olla, a slow-cooked stew of meats and vegetables served as a soup with large pasta shells, followed by the meat itself. On 26 December the leftover roast meat becomes canelons, a habit that Italian cooks working for Barcelona’s wealthy families introduced in the late 19th century.
For dessert there’s torró, the Catalan name for turrón, and neules, thin rolled wafers first recorded at King Jaume I’s Christmas dinner in 1267. Everything is washed down with cava.
Sants Innocents
On 28 December, Catalonia plays pranks. The classic one is sneaking a llufa, a little paper figure, onto someone’s back without them noticing. Newspapers and TV stations join in with fake stories, so read the headlines carefully that day.
New Year’s Eve
At a quarter to midnight on 31 December, the crowd at the foot of Montjuïc goes quiet and everyone starts counting grapes.
No matter where you find yourself in Spain, the tradition on New Year’s Eve is to eat one grape for each of the 12 strikes of the clock at midnight. It’s said to bring a year of good luck and prosperity, and in older times it was said to ward off witches and general evil. Today the “magic” is treated as an old wives’ tale, and the grapes are simply how Spaniards welcome the new year with family and friends. The most popular story traces the custom to a grape surplus in the Alicante region in 1909, though historians still argue about its origins. Supermarkets sell small tins of 12 peeled, seedless grapes for anyone worried about choking on the last few.
Barcelona’s official celebration takes place on Avinguda de la Reina Maria Cristina, between Plaça d’Espanya and the Magic Fountain. In recent years the show has combined fireworks, drones and music. It runs from about 11:50pm to 12:15am, and it’s free. More than 100,000 people come, so arrive early. Expect bag checks; glass bottles, cans and e-scooters are not allowed in. The nearest metro stations are Espanya, Poble-sec and Hostafrancs.
A few more customs to know: many Spaniards wear red underwear on New Year’s Eve for luck in love, some drop a gold ring into their glass of cava, and everyone tries to step into the new year with their right foot first.
The Three Kings
In Spain, the big day for presents is 6 January, not 25 December. The Three Kings, Melcior, Gaspar and Baltasar, bring the gifts. They travel with an entourage of fantastic creatures and royal mailmen who collect children’s letters with their wishes.
On the afternoon of 5 January, the Kings arrive in Barcelona by sea aboard the schooner Santa Eulàlia. They land at Portal de la Pau, near the Columbus monument, at about 4:30pm. The mayor welcomes them and hands over the keys to the city.
The Three Kings Parade, the Cavalcada de Reis, starts at about 6pm near Parc de la Ciutadella and winds through the city to the Magic Fountain at Montjuïc. The last floats arrive at around 9pm. It’s a huge production with more than 1,000 performers, and the floats throw sweets into the crowd. The route changes from time to time, so check the city’s Christmas website for the current one.
That evening, children leave their shoes out, and some families leave something for the Kings and their camels. On 6 January the family shares a tortell de Reis, a ring-shaped pastry with a hidden figurine and a dried bean inside. Whoever finds the figurine wears the paper crown; whoever finds the bean pays for next year’s tortell.
Practical Information
Public holidays and closures
The public holidays over the season are 8 December, 25 December, 26 December (in Catalonia), 1 January and 6 January. Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve are not official holidays, but many places close early.
Most museums close on 25 December and 1 January, several also close on 26 December and 6 January, and many shorten their hours on 24 and 31 December. The Sagrada Família stays open on the main holidays, usually from 9am to 2pm. Most shops close on the public holidays.
Getting around
The metro runs all night on New Year’s Eve, with extra trains on the busiest lines. On Christmas Eve it closes earlier than usual, at around 11pm, and the last buses leave at about 10pm. Check the TMB website for holiday timetables before you plan a late dinner.
Weather
December is one of the best months for walking the city. Daytime highs are around 14°C (57°F) and nights drop to around 6 to 9°C (43 to 48°F). It rains on only about four days in the month, and the city gets around 140 hours of sunshine. The sun sets at about 5:30pm around the solstice. Bring a warm jacket for the evenings, especially if you’ll be standing outside on New Year’s Eve.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is open in Barcelona on Christmas Day?
Very little. Most museums, shops and many restaurants close, so book a restaurant well in advance if you want to eat out. The Sagrada Família usually opens in the morning, Poble Espanyol and the Tibidabo amusement park’s Cuca de Llum have been among the few attractions open, and the street lights still come on in the evening.
Do children in Barcelona get presents from Santa Claus or the Three Kings?
Traditionally from the Three Kings, on the morning of 6 January. The tió only brings sweets and small gifts. These days plenty of families also let Santa, Pare Noel in Catalan, leave something under the tree on 25 December, which means some lucky children get presents three times in two weeks.
Where can children meet the Three Kings in Barcelona?
Royal pages are stationed in neighborhoods across the city during the season to collect letters. Between Christmas and the first days of January, the Fàbrica dels Reis at the Fabra i Coats complex in Sant Andreu shows children a “factory” for the Kings’ toys. Visits need booking, and places go quickly.
Can you swim in the sea in Barcelona in December?
You can, but it’s cold. The sea is around 14 to 16°C in December and gets colder as the month goes on. On a sunny afternoon the beaches are pleasant for a walk, and you’ll see a few hardy swimmers.
When do the January sales start in Barcelona?
The sales, called rebaixes in Catalan and rebajas in Spanish, traditionally start on 7 January, the day after the Kings. Spain no longer fixes the date by law, so some chains begin as early as late December, but most shops still wait until the 7th.
Related articles:
- Celebrating Christmas in Barcelona Like a Local
- Spend New Year’s Eve in Barcelona Like a Local
- Eating Through Barcelona’s Oldest Pastry Shops
