Profitez de Noël à Barcelone
Barcelona celebrates Christmas with more than a thousand festive, recreational and cultural activities for the whole family. For you not to miss anything, we have prepared a guide with the best plans to enjoy Christmas at our hotel in Barcelona.
CHRISTMAS LIGHTS SWITCH-ON
The lighting of the Christmas lights marks the beginning of the Christmas holidays. This year will take place on November 22.
The official ceremony will take place at the Rambla de Guipuzcoa with Calle Julián Bestiro, at 7:00 p.m., but you can enjoy the spectacular lighting throughout the city. They are about 100 kilometers of Christmas illumination in the commercial hubs of the city.
CHRISTMAS MARKETS
The market of “Santa Lucia” and the market of the “Sagrada Família”. If you want to add a special charm to Christmas in Barcelona, do not miss walking through these two Christmas markets.
The de Santa Lucía Fair has been held for more than 230 years and is located in the square in front of the impressive Gothic Cathedral of Barcelona. It has about three hundred stops that offer typical Christmas products for decoration, Christmas cribs and gifts, like Christmas tree and their ornaments, and figures like the famous « caganer » typical of the Catalan Christmas crib (The “caganer” tradition dates from the eighteenth century), as well as typical food products of these dates. It will open its doors from next November 30 until December 23 from 11:00 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.
At the Sagrada Familia Fair, held for the first time in 1962, you will also find a hundred stops with fir trees, Christmas decorations, Christmas cribs and figures, as well as typical Christmas food products. It is located in front of the temple of La Sagrada Familia by Gaudí. It will open its doors from next November 24 until December 23 from 10:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Don’t forget to visit the Christmas crib of the Plaza de Sant Jaume, it adds a particular touch to traditional Christmas cribs.
SHOPPING
In these dates, shops and the markets gain special prominence in Barcelona. The commercial associations offer activities and recreational and cultural proposals for everyone. Shops have special opening time for these days, opening from Monday to Sunday.
CHRISTMAS SWEETS
Spaniards can’t understand Christmas without the “turrón” or the “polvorones”.
The “turrón” is a typical sweet with Arab origin and is the king of Christmas celebrations. The typical is sweet dough made with sugar, almonds and honey. But you can find all the flavours you can imagine: chocolate (with or without almonds or hazelnuts and other mixes), cream and nuts, coconut, yolk, hard or soft … Don’t miss it!
ICE RINK
The Farga de l’Hospitalet de Llobregat will become, from December 21 to January 7, a huge ice rink of 1300 square meters, of which 300 are reserved for children.
This space, Kaliu Park, will have three thematic areas: The Kaliu Ice, with the traditional ice rink and the spectacular giant ice sledge, the playful Kaliu with sports and leisure activities for the little ones and the Kaliu Creativo with music, shows and circus workshops.
Open from 11:00 a.m. to 21:00 p.m.
CHRISTMAS AT POBLE ESPANYOL
At Christmas time the “Poble Espanyol” site becomes a unique thematic space in Barcelona where you can also see and experience some of the most established of Catalan Christmas traditions like the living Christmas cribs or “to make shit the Tió”, which consists of a wooden trunk supported by two front legs, which is drawn a smiling face and dressed with a “barretina” (typical Catalan hat) and a blanket. According to the Catalan tradition, from December 8, children should feed the “Tió” every day with food scraps or fruit peels. The more you eat, the more you will get fatter and the more gifts you will produce for the little children.
At home, on December 24, Christmas Eve, after dinner, the children beat the “Caga Tió” with a stick while singing a popular song until the gifts and sweets begin to come out.
FINAL TOUCH: NEW YEAR’S EVE
The Magic Fountain of Montjuïc will offer on December 31, one of the most important events of the year, a spectacular castle of fireworks, light, water and music, where Catalans, locals and tourists welcome the New year. All this at 5 minutes walking from La França Travellers!.
The tradition marks to eat one grape with each of the last 12 strokes of the gong before midnight, so that the New Year brings you luck. Do not worry, we put the grapes!.
You can continue the party until dawn in one of the many nightclubs of the city, such as Poble Espanyol, Razzmatazz, Opium Barcelona, Pacha Barcelona …
