All of the Christmas lights have been switched on, Christmas trees have been erected in the
main squares, and the Christmas markets are in full swing, so I can now finally say that it’s beginning to look a lot like
Christmas in Spain! Generally Christmas isn’t taken so seriously
here. All of the festivities start a lot later, apparently it’s
only acceptable to start talking about Christmas in December which
goes against everything I've learnt growing up in Britain - the
country where Harrods opened its festive shop this year in July (my students
were appalled when I told them this). The Basque Christmas markets
are decidedly less Christmassy selling practical items like jewellery
and general food rather than Christmas decorations and mince pies.
I’ve been shocked by how different
Christmas is here compared to England because I thought it was a
pretty standardised holiday. However, in Spain, Christmas Eve is a lot more important because that is when
you eat Christmas dinner and watch the King’s speech (or the leader
of the Basque country, who is conveniently broadcast at exactly the same time as the King). They also have another holiday over the festive period on the 6th of January where they celebrate 'los tres reyes magos' or the three wise men with more presents and another big meal.
The biggest surprise for me, however,
is the fact that the Basque Country has its own version of Father
Christmas called Olentzero. The Basques are so stubborn with their traditions that not even the powerful advertising force of Coca Cola has been able to reach these parts. The story goes that Olentzero is a Basque
peasant who lives in the mountains and brings presents to the good
Basque children on Christmas Eve. Pretty similar to Father Christmas really except that he lives in the Basque mountains and only serves Basque people. I would argue that in this sense he's not as charitable as our version and should maybe rethink his generosity.
Zorionak!
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