In Spain, the Christmas tradition is different than in Canada. Here in Spain and in other latin American countries, the holiday season ends on the Epiphany. In Alicante, they have two parades to celebrate the Epiphany. The first parade was on January 4th and began at the Ayuntamiento (City Hall) in Alicante.
City Hall Alicante
We headed down to city hall early to see the start of the parade. People and children were gathering around excited for the start of the parade. There were different parade characters waiting for the parade to start.
Character heads on the sidewalk waiting for the start of the parade
We saw different characters walking around and Ray managed to stop and get his picture taken with some of them.
Ray with some of the parade characters
The parade also had different bands and a sleigh with “helpers to the three kings”.
Gathering in preparation to start the parade
There was also a group from the “Correos” which is the government postal service in Spain. The parade travels through the main sections of the city collecting letters from children for the Three Kings. The letters contain the children’s wishes and requests for gifts to the Three Kings.
Correos van and motorcycles to pick up letters
As we waited for the parade to start the “Kings Helpers” stepped out onto the balcony to wave to the crowd.
Shortly before the start of the parade, the “helpers” exit city hall and climb on the sleigh to start the parade.
Helpers on the sleigh to start the parade.
We watched the parade and enjoyed seeing the children handing in their letters for the Three Kings. It is a very different tradition from a Christmas parade in Canada. The parade is a prelude to the main parade on January 5th.
New Year’s Eve, we went with a group of friends for dinner at an original Spanish restaurant called “La Taberna Iberica”. We were greeted more like family than customers when we arrived. The owner Francesca met us at the door and gave us a big hug and a kiss on both cheeks.
The interior of the restaurant is divided into several different areas for dining and an upper level for larger groups. We went to the upstairs area which was reserved for our group of thirteen. We sat down and settled in for the 6-course meal.
There was a guitarist playing some very nice Spanish music. He entertained us with background music throughout the meal. The guitarist spoke perfect English and we found out later that evening that he is from Ottawa, Canada.
Kyle the guitarist from Ottawa Canada
We had a choice of two main plates “Cerdito” and “Filete”,. Ray ordered the Filete and Shelley ordered the Cerdito. That way we could both try the two main plates. The food was traditional Spanish with cheese and ham as a starter. We then had a plate of seafood and salad.
shrimp, tuna cake, and salad
We were then served another type of shrimp which looked similar to a small crab or prawn. We both tried them but it was not what we would normally eat.
Shelley trying the crab like seafood.A serving of crab or prawn type seafood.
Then our main course was brought out and served. Shelley was surprised to see her Cerdito plate when it arrived. Certainly not something we would normally eat.
Main course “Cerdito” Piglet in English.
Cerdito is Spanish for piglet and the little guy was staring at her from the plate. Shelley turned the plate so the Cerdito was not looking directly at her and enjoyed the tasty meal. After the main course, we enjoyed an assortment of cakes for dessert and an after dinner drink.
We then got a bag of twelve grapes and a few bottles of cava (similar to Champaign) delivered to the table.
Bag of twelve grapes for New Years Eve tradition in Spain
There is a tradition in Spain called “Las doce uvas de la suerte” which means “the twelve grapes of luck”. The origin of this tradition dates back to 1909 and began here in Alicante. Apparently, there was an abundance of grapes that particular year and the growers popularized this custom to sell large amounts of grapes.
In Madrid, they have a similar event to Time Square in New York. There is a large ball in Madrid that is lowered at Midnight and it is televised across Spain.
Spain New Year’s Eve countdown from Madrid.
We took our grapes and cava and headed downstairs to the main room which has the TV. We watched the countdown and at midnight ate the 12 grapes to the sound of the bells chiming midnight.
Waiting for Midnight to eat our grapesRay waiting to eat his grapes12 Grapes at the ready for midnight
After finishing our grapes and wishing everyone Happy New Year, we headed to City Hall. There is a large plaza there where the party goes on until the early hours. When we arrived there were thousands of people in the plaza dancing and having fun.
DJ set up at City Hall in Alicante
They were playing music and people were dancing all in the plaza. We saw people of all ages enjoying themselves, including people in their sixties and seventies.
Partying at city hall in Alicante
Some of the people were sharing a bottle of wine and passing it around the group. Below is a short video of some of the dancing and music in the plaza.
We stayed at City Hall for about a half an hour before heading to another bar. This bar was unique because the entrance doorway is only four feet high.
Shelley going into the doorway of the bar
The entire Inside of the bar was decorated in graffiti made by patrons of the bar. There were two floors to the bar, and we headed upstairs to have a drink.
Unique bar in AlicanteA wall covered in graffiti in a bar in AlicanteGraffiti on wall
What was interesting was that we could not find any inappropriate graffiti in the entire bar.
Our first New Year’s Eve in Spain was very enjoyable.
They have a tradition in Alicante of starting New Year’s Eve early in the day. The festivities begin with a children’s party at 11:00 a.m in the plaza at City Hall. They celebrate with music, balloons, confetti and party toys. The party goes until 1 p.m. when they have a New Year countdown called the “Australian.” It is based on the start of New Year in Australia.
Plaza at City Hall Alicante before the New Year’s Eve Party
After the children’s party is over, people either go to different bars or to the Mascletás and the festivities begin.
We started our New Year’s Eve by heading down to the Luceros Plaza for the Mascletás (daytime fireworks). We gathered on the plaza along with thousands of other people.
Plaza de Luceros before the Mascletás
People were celebrating and having drinks of Moscatel which is a sweet wine. As we were waiting for the fireworks to start the group in front of us offered us a glass of Moscatel. We gladly accepted and enjoyed the drink with our new-found friends.
Shelley and Mike enjoying a drink of Moscatelcrowd drinking Moscatel waiting for fireworks to begin
The crowd was very well controlled and there were police throughout the area.
Police patrolling through the crowds at the Mascletás
The start of the Mascletás was signaled by a single firework blast. The crowd cheered and the fireworks began. They are very different because of the focus on sound and not light. Where we were standing you could feel the vibrations of the sound hitting your chest. It was very invigorating and exciting to experience. Below is the video of the Mascleta in its entirety.
After the Mascletás the people go to local bars and pubs for tapas and drinks. Some of the bars are very popular and fill up very fast.
People at a popular bar in Alicante on New Year’s Eve
We headed to one of our favorite bars in the old quarter of Alicante. The bar is in the lower section of a building and is fairly small.
One of our favorite Bars in Alicante
We arrived early and it was still fairly empty, so we settled in and enjoyed a few drinks and Tapas.
Tapas and drinks at the bar New years Eve
Afterward, we headed home to rest before heading back out for the evening festivities, but that will be for another blog post.
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.
Christmas decoration in AlicanteArtificial slide for family fun
The main streets of Alicante have lights strung across the street and they are very pretty at night.
Street in Alicante
Stores decorate with lights and avoid Santa or Christmas trees for the most part.
Christmas decorations in Mall
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.
We went for a walk and came across a wine and liquor store called “Bernardino”. The store is located on a narrow side street in our neighborhood. The place looked interesting so we went inside to check it out.
Shelley checking out the different wines
The inside of the store was lined with rows of unique liquors, beers, and wines. We walked through the rows looking at different types of items on display. We came across a section of local beers made in the Alicante region as well as other beers from around the world.
What was interesting was the selection of unique liquors and wines. We even came across the Crystal Head Vodka which is made in Canada by Dan Aykroyd and John Alexander.
Crystal Head Vodka made in Canada
Some other very interesting bottles included a crystal sail ship, which was beautiful.
Alcohol in unique designed bottles
There were other interesting types of liquor, including other skull bottles and even the devil was there.
Different alcohol containersCollection of the Devil alcohol
There was one type of wine called “Envidia Cochina” which translates to mean Jealous Envy. The label had an interesting story on it entitled “Eat your heart out” and an image of a naked woman going into the water with the devil. The story speaks of a Spanish saying “Envidia Cochina” and how it is used in Spain.
Envidia Cochina bottle of wine
The Store was also a Bodega which sold wine from barrels into different size bottles from 2 liters to 5 liters in size. We watched people come in and buy several 5 liter plastic containers and have them filled with different types of wine. They even sold small barrels of wine.
Wine sold in small wine barrels
We found the store very interesting and enjoyed walking around looking at the different products. This store was tucked away on a back street and we came across it, simply by chance.
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