Christmas in Andalucía: lights, markets, belenes and the Three Kings

Christmas in Andalucía is longer than the one most of northern Europe keeps. It starts when the city lights go on, usually somewhere between the last week of November and the first week of December, and it does not end on the 26th. It runs straight through to the night of 5 January, when the Three Kings parade through every town, and the presents children have been waiting for arrive the next morning.

This page is the starting point. Each city and province has its own guide below, and we keep those up to date every season.

The lights

The switch-on is a night out in itself. In Málaga the crowd fills Calle Larios for the light show, and in the smaller towns it is the moment the whole plaza comes out. Dates and times are announced by each ayuntamiento, often only a couple of weeks ahead, so check the city page close to the time.

• Christmas lights in Málaga
• Christmas lights in Seville
• Christmas lights in Granada
• Christmas lights in Córdoba
• Christmas lights in Cádiz province
• Christmas lights in Almería
• Christmas lights in Huelva
• Christmas lights in Jaén
• Christmas lights in the Costa del Sol towns

Christmas markets and belenes

Andalucía’s markets are smaller than the German kind, and the real draw is the belén: the nativity scene. Town halls, churches, brotherhoods and private houses build them, some with hundreds of hand-made figures, and in some villages the belén is a living one, with the neighbours in costume. Looking at belenes is how many local families spend a December evening.

• Christmas markets and belenes in Málaga
• Christmas markets and belenes in Seville
• Christmas markets and belenes in Granada
• Christmas markets and belenes in Córdoba
• Christmas markets and belenes in Cádiz
• Christmas markets and belenes in Almería
• Christmas markets and belenes in Huelva

The dates that matter

• 22 December — the Christmas lottery draw, El Gordo. Half the country listens on the radio, and the season properly starts here.
• 24 December, Nochebuena — the big family dinner. Restaurants that do open are booked weeks ahead, and many close early.
• 25 December — a quiet public holiday. Most shops and museums are closed.
• 28 December, Día de los Santos Inocentes — Spain’s April Fools’ Day. Treat any surprising news story that day with suspicion.
• 31 December, Nochevieja — twelve grapes, one on each stroke of midnight, then out into the plaza.
• 5 January — the Cabalgata de Reyes Magos, the Three Kings parade, in the early evening. Bring a bag for the sweets they throw.
• 6 January — Reyes. Presents in the morning, roscón de reyes on the table, and the season is over.

What people eat

Mantecados and polvorones, the crumbly almond and lard sweets, are everywhere from November. Many of them come from Estepa in Seville province, where the factories run flat out before Christmas. In Cádiz province December brings the zambombas, informal evenings of flamenco carols, with Jerez the best known. The roscón de reyes, a ring-shaped sweet bread with a small figure hidden inside, closes everything on 6 January.

Planning a December trip

December is cool and often bright on the coast, and cold inland, especially in Granada and Jaén at night. Book anything around 24 December and 31 December early, and check opening hours for the 25th and 1 January, when much of the region shuts. For the month before, see Andalucía in November; for the weather by month, Andalucía weather by month.