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Living Abroad: An Epiphany

January 6, 2011 in Integrating Abroad, Living in Spain by Paul Allen | No comments

One of the great things about living abroad is the exposure it gives to different cultures, the countries’ traditions and their way of thinking.

Festivals and public holidays are a prime example.

For instance, in Spain – and many other Christian places around the world – the major gift-giving ceremonies associated with Christmas do not happen on December 25. Instead, they are reserved for today, the Feast of the Epiphany.

The Epiphany celebrates the revelation of Jesus Christ as the son of God, when the Magi – the wise men from the East – present their gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. For this reason, in Spain it is called El Día de los Reyes (The Day of the Kings).

In towns across the country, the evening of January 5 sees the three kings – Melchior, Caspar (or Gaspar) and Balthasar – parade through the streets, the children flanking their route straining to see and touch them. As with Santa Claus, the Magi then deliver presents during the night while the children sleep.

And when they awake the festivities begin!

 

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Celebrating the Holiday Season Abroad

December 6, 2010 in Integrating Abroad, Living Abroad Pros and Cons, Living in Spain, Moving Abroad Tips by Paul Allen | No comments

The Holiday Season is well upon us. But if you live abroad you’ll need to get used to a whole different category of celebrations.

Take today, December 6. For many of us it may be another dreary Monday at work. But not everywhere …

Santa Claus is Coming to Town

December 6 is a special festival for children in many European countries, as well as some American cities – for it marks Saint Nicholas Day.

In the Netherlands in particular, Saint Nicholas’ Eve is the equivalent of Christmas Eve, when Sinterklaas (the original Santa Claus) brings gifts for all the good boys and girls. Similarly, in Germany children traditionally put a boot out for St Nicholas to fill with small presents and sweets.

Advent of Democracy

December 6 is a special holiday in Spain too, albeit for different reasons. This is Constitution Day, marking the Spanish public’s vote in 1978 to approve the Constitution of Spain, and thus the country’s formal transition to a democratic state.

As a citizen of the UK, with its long democratic history, it is easy to forget how recent the establishment of such political rights was in Spain. If I was a Spaniard, however, I would have been born in a dictatorship.

In the developed world it is easy to see democracy as a right, one we take for granted. But days like today remind me how blessed we are.

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Catalan Christmas

December 18, 2008 in Living in Spain by Paul Allen | No comments

We went shopping in the local mall over the weekend, trying to sort some final presents before Christmas creeps up on us. The decorations have been up everywhere for a good month already in our corner of Spain, the trees decorated, baubles glinting in the fairy lights, tinsel sparkling, Santa Claus figures dangling from the ceilings. It’s almost like being in the States, or back in the UK.

 

Yet Catalunya has its idiosyncratic traditions too. One – less common in Barcelona but found across the rest of the region, especially in rural areas – is tió de Nadal (the Christmas log).

 

They can be bought in various sizes, but essentially it is a hollow tree log, commonly raised on one end by short stick legs, and with a painted face and stuck-on nose on the front (I know, but bear with me on this). The tió is ‘fed’ every night in the run up to Christmas, and then on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, depending on your preference, it is beaten with a stick to a special accompanying song and ordered to poo out its treats of sweets or nuts and the like.

 

It may sound somewhat bizarre, but is – or so I am told by the teachers at my daughter’s school – magical for the children.

 

Meanwhile, across Spain the big present-giving celebration is not December 25 as in North America and some other parts of Europe, but Epiphany (January 6). For this is the day when the Three Kings (los Reyes) came to see Jesus in the stable, bringing their gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.

 

Nevertheless, Santa Claus and Christmas Day gifts are slowly encroaching into the Spanish calendar – the power, I guess, of Disney and Coca Cola!

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