{"id":41191,"date":"2025-11-14T12:53:01","date_gmt":"2025-11-14T11:53:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.travelodge.co.uk\/blog\/?p=41191"},"modified":"2026-02-04T13:04:52","modified_gmt":"2026-02-04T12:04:52","slug":"uk-vs-spain-how-we-celebrate-christmas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.travelodge.co.uk\/blog\/christmas\/uk-vs-spain-how-we-celebrate-christmas\/","title":{"rendered":"UK vs. Spain: How We Celebrate Christmas"},"content":{"rendered":"

Christmas is all about tradition \u2013 whether it\u2019s stuffing ourselves with turkey, watching The Holiday for the umpteenth time or arguing over board game rules. But step outside of the British Isles and the festive season can look very different indeed!<\/h2>\n

Here\u2019s how the UK\u2019s yuletide compares to Spain\u2019s Navidad and where you can cosy up in a\u00a0Spanish Travelodge<\/span><\/a> if you fancy a continental Christmas!<\/h4>\n
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Gift-giving and celebration dates in the UK vs Spain<\/span><\/h3>\n

Christmas in the UK<\/strong><\/h3>\n

\"LondonIn the UK, celebrations often commence on Christmas Eve (24th December). Some attend Midnight Mass, some catch up with old mates in their local pub and others put out the treats for Santa.<\/h4>\n

But the real magic begins on Christmas morning (25th December), when children tear into presents at the crack of dawn and adults start dreaming about the feast ahead. The revelry continues through Boxing Day (26th December), when everyone\u2019s still trying to digest yesterday\u2019s food and catch up on Christmas TV specials.<\/h4>\n

\"ChristmasThe next few days are endearingly known as \u2018Crimbo Limbo\u2019, when those who are lucky enough to be off work couldn\u2019t tell you what day of the week it is. The 31st December marks New Year\u2019s Eve \u2013 or Hogmanay, if you\u2019re Scottish! \u2013 when we count down to midnight, watch firework shows and dance the night away. On 1st January, you\u2019ll get plenty of groggy \u2018Happy New Year\u2019 greetings and then spend the rest of January wondering how long we should keep saying it.<\/h4>\n

Search hotel deals<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

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Christmas in Spain<\/strong><\/h3>\n

\"SpainIf the UK\u2019s Christmas celebrations feel drawn out, wait til you hear about Spain\u2019s!<\/h4>\n

This all-out festive marathon begins on 22nd December with El Gordo. Known as the Sorteo Extraordinario de Navidad (extraordinary Christmas giveaway), this national lottery\u2019s winning numbers are sung by children and its prize pot is shared among thousands. It\u2019s no wonder Spaniards go loco for this lottery every Christmas \u2013 it\u2019s the biggest lottery prize pool in the world, totalling over \u00a32 billion!<\/h4>\n

Spain\u2019s answer to April Fool\u2019s Day falls six days later on 28th December. Known as El D\u00eda de los Santos Inocentes (the Day of the Holy Innocents), Spaniards celebrate by pranking each other and making jokes. So if you\u2019re in Madrid for the holidays, don\u2019t be surprised if someone sticks a paper figure to your back and shouts \u00a1Inocente, inocente!<\/h4>\n

\"NativityInterestingly, Spanish families don\u2019t open gifts on Christmas Day. Instead, they wait until Epiphany on 6th January, when presents are brought by the Three Kings \u2013 not Santa Claus!<\/h4>\n

This feast day commemorates the visit of the Three Wise Men, who travelled to Bethlehem to give Jesus Christ gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. The Three Kings Parade also takes place on 5th January. So if you fancy celebrating Christmas like a Spanish local, you can base yourself at one of our Travelodge hotels in Spain.<\/span><\/a><\/h4>\n
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\ud83e\udd67 Festive food in the UK vs Spain \ud83e\udd42<\/strong><\/h3>\n

On Christmas day, Brits stuff themselves with roast turkey, pigs in blankets, mountains of vegetables and gravy, followed by a flaming Christmas pudding. There are mince pies in abundance everywhere you go and hot mulled wine to help keep the winter chill away.<\/h4>\n

\"PigsBut Spaniards take a different culinary approach. Christmas Eve hosts the main feast of the festive season, often featuring tapas-style starters of Iberian ham, cheeses, and seafood. The centrepiece might be suckling pig or slow-roasted lamb (or even both in some regions!). Dessert means turr\u00f3n (a traditional Spanish nougat) or marzipan shaped into beautiful, intricate designs. Some families even make a crown-shaped Rosc\u00f3n de Reyes (or \u2018king cake\u2019) for Epiphany morning.<\/h4>\n

\"TraditionalSpain is, of course, one of the foodie capitals of the world, meaning Christmas is one of the best times to visit it for foodies. If you fancy sampling Madrid, Barcelona, or Valencia\u2019s food scene, book a stay at one of our affordable Spanish hotels this Christmas.<\/h4>\n

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\ud83c\udf89 Festivities and entertainment \ud83c\udf87<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The UK is famous for its Christmas pantomimes, carol singing, and Christmas TV specials, from Strictly Come Dancing to soap-opera cliff-hangers.<\/h4>\n

\"ChristmasBut in Spain, the entertainment is rooted in tradition. Christmas markets fill city plazas \u2013 Barcelona\u2019s Fira de Santa Ll\u00facia and Madrid\u2019s Plaza Mayor markets are among the most famous. Picture hundreds of stalls selling delicious treats, Christmas decorations, and gifts (the majority of which are handmade!).<\/h4>\n

When it comes to nativity scenes, no one does it quite like the Spanish. The Royal Palace of Madrid\u2019s Neapolitan Nativity scene features nearly 200 figures, while Alicante\u2019s monumental nativity measures a whopping 17 metres high!<\/h4>\n

\"ChristmasOn Christmas Eve, many Spaniards attend La Misa del Gallo (Midnight Mass), where people sing carols to traditional instruments like guitars, hand drums, and tambourines. And when New Year\u2019s Eve rolls around, it also brings with it the quirky tradition of eating 12 grapes at midnight for good luck!<\/h4>\n

If you want to mooch around Spain\u2019s spectacular markets or \u2018basque\u2019 in the festivities, stay at one of our many Spanish Travelodge hotels this Christmas.<\/h4>\n

Search hotel deals<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Christmas is all about tradition \u2013 whether it\u2019s stuffing ourselves with turkey, watching The Holiday for the umpteenth time or arguing over board game rules. But step outside of the British Isles and the festive season can look very different indeed! Here\u2019s how the UK\u2019s yuletide compares to Spain\u2019s Navidad and where you can cosy […]","protected":false},"author":121,"featured_media":41205,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1673,1361],"tags":[1814,1813],"class_list":["post-41191","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-christmas","category-things-to-do","tag-christmas","tag-winter"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.travelodge.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41191","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.travelodge.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.travelodge.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.travelodge.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/121"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.travelodge.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41191"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.travelodge.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41191\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.travelodge.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41205"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.travelodge.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41191"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.travelodge.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41191"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.travelodge.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41191"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}