It is our first Christmas in Spain. The culture here is different from that of Canada. One of the things we noticed is the lack of Christmas decorations compared to Canada. Here there are less Christmas trees and assorted Santa decorations. Most of the homes we saw lacked Christmas decorations and there are very few homes with Christmas lights.

There is more of a family focused time and the city has different activities for family fun.

The main streets of Alicante have lights strung across the street and they are very pretty at night.

Stores decorate with lights and avoid Santa or Christmas trees for the most part.

There is less active merchandising with more of a focus on the religious aspect and not on the commercial merchandise. It is not uncommon to see a Nativity scene here,  where in Canada you would likely see a Christmas tree or Santa decoration. The focus here is more centered on the religious aspect of Christmas. It is a nice difference and one we enjoyed.

There are subtle differences as well. For example,  you do not say Merry Christmas, the greeting is ¡Feliz Navidad! which means happy Christmas. They also say Felices Fiestas! which means happy Holidays.  The word merry is not used in this context.

They also say “¡Feliz Año Nuevo!” Happy New Year. We found out quickly that a good response to ¡Feliz Navidad! is simply “Igualmente,”  which means equally.  The focus here in Spain is on happiness, family, and friends.

“¡Feliz Navidad! mi amigos”