Spanish Christmas
Customs… “told in a humorous way!”
Merry Christmas to all of us!
I’m going to talk about Christmas
gift-giving in Spain. Well, a gift is always considered as a gesture of love
and affection. A lot of good things can
be said about this beautiful custom, so that we can stay here until the next
Christmas day and still, we won’t be able to finish talking about it.
First
and foremost, I must say that we, Spaniards are very religious; we, being a
staunch defender of Catholicism since time in memorial. Our zeal to cultivate
the spirit makes us a bit careless with money, a thing that gives us discomfort
in the pocket. For this, driven by our
zealous desire to improve ourselves spiritually in this season of love, we
plunge into spending spree without any control.
We fill our respective houses and those of our relatives and friends
with silly things, and at the same time, empty our pockets with that horrible
metal, which in reality, is the only thing that matters to us.
However, it really feels good to
give and receive gifts! Actually, we
feel very glad to receive them, although we tend to deny it. Indeed, we are very thankful for whatever gift
that other people give us. When someone
gives us a Christmas gift, we cannot help but exclaim:
“Please, you don’t have to bother
giving me something. You’re such a good
friend. You always have something for
me”, but silently we tell ourselves: “What the hell has he brought me this
time?” as though saying that if it’s another handkerchief, I will throw it to
his face.
The custom of opening the gift as
soon as it’s handed to us is one interesting aspect of gift-giving among us,
Spaniards. It is not for impatience, of
course not, but it is our way of showing our appreciation of the kindness of
the person giving the gift, as though telling him “how good and wonderful
friend you have been to me.” And so, we open the gift at once and exclaim:
“What a precious gift! I have never seen anything like this
before! It’s really beautiful and
indeed, it’s of good quality. Thank you
very much. There are no words that can
describe my appreciation for your taking time to know what my likes are. I am so proud to have you as a friend!” But, at the same we tell ourselves: “I knew it from the very beginning. It’s another damned handkerchief. How cheap and disgusting! Oh my God, what a taste he has!”
On the other hand, it’s nice to see
the good intention of relatives and friends behind those gifts. In Spain, one common gift that we receive is
a book about “Learning English in 10 Days”.
Let us see what these two good friends will think and say to strengthen
their friendship through gift-giving:
Manolo says: “Take this Ramon. It’s my way of showing how important you are
to me as a friend. On days such as this, I think of you very much and I won’t
let them pass without you knowing how much I care for you.” But, the truth is that he’s thinking: “Open, open it now. Stop saying those words of appreciation
because I can’t wait to see and laugh at your funny face when you open the
gift”.
Tearfully, Ramon could say nothing
except: “Wow, a gift! But, Manolo, we
are friends and so, you don’t have to bother giving me anything. It’s enough that you pay a visit and I’m
already very much contented with that!”
However, at the back of his mind: “Dammit! What could it be? I don’t like the smile he has on his
face. Let us see. I hope it’s not another book about “Learning
How to Make Love in 5 Days” similar to last year”. And so, Manolo opened the gift and said:
“Learning English in 10 Days”! But
Manolo, this is so expensive. Why did
you bother? This is a wonderful gift and
I’m so happy! There’s no doubt you know
me very well and you are my best friend, indeed because you always give me
something that I really like! Thank you
very much! It’s very kind of you”. At the same time, he was thinking: “You, rogue!
You know that I’ve been studying English for ten years and you will give
me a gift about learning it in 10 days!
You will see what it would be when I give you mine!”
Another beautiful custom in Spain is
to go out with friends on Christmas day to eat and drink like beasts. Naturally, we agree to meet on a certain
time, and the first one to arrive will make it to the place one hour late. You might be thinking that I’m referring to
Slovak friends. No, don’t be
mistaken. I’m referring to Spanish
friends. Indeed, when I meet with my Slovak friends, I feel like meeting with
my Spanish friends, waiting, waiting and waiting until they show up, only in
the end to receive a text message saying that they will not be able to make it.
Well, when everyone has finally arrived, we proceed to eat, tell stories, laugh
and drink until all of us get tipsy, always happy about the thought that we are
remembering the birth of Jesus Christ.
Of course, we do it in the spirit of generosity, which is so typical of
us. When it is time to pay the bill, a
real fight will break out as to who will pay it, as everyone insists that he is the first one to have
invited each one to come to the celebration.
But, when someone has finally paid the bill, one can feel or even hear
clearly a great sigh of relief of those who did not.
There are other typical customs in
Spain during Christmas season. The young
kids during these days would form groups and go from house to house to sing
Christmas carols and ask for “aguinaldos”, money or candy in return for their
“service”. I remember when I was young,
as though it were just yesterday, I would join my friends to sing Christmas
carols and ask for gifts from our neighbors. I have never seen much horrified
faces in my life before as they open the door!
They would have different reactions upon seeing our young group singing
“villancicos” and playing the tambourines.
There was one who got very irritated and bore with us with a fake smile
on his face, and later, sent us away with a measly peseta (equivalent to one
Slovak crown at that time). There was
one who shut the door under our nose as if he had seen a demon. There was one
who covered his ears while we were singing.
Finally, there was one who was scared to death, fainted and fell to the
ground. In spite of everything, we
really enjoyed the experience.
Here are two samples of those
enchanting songs, which make me remember those fond memories of the “not so
long ago” period of my childhood. By the
way, you have to pay me 5 € for a copy of them! :o)
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Alegría,
Alegría
Sopa le dieron al Niño,
no se la quiso comer,
y como estaba tan dulce,
se la comió San José.
no se la quiso comer,
y como estaba tan dulce,
se la comió San José.
Vamos al Portal,
con su resplandor,
que salga la luna llena,
y el hermoso sol,
ella nos alumbrará,
con su resplandor.
con su resplandor,
que salga la luna llena,
y el hermoso sol,
ella nos alumbrará,
con su resplandor.
alegría, alegría y placer,
esta noche nace el Niño,
en el Portal de Belén.
Arre burro, arre
En la puerta de mi casa
voy a poner un petardo,
"pa" reírme del que venga,
a pedir el aguinaldo.
voy a poner un petardo,
"pa" reírme del que venga,
a pedir el aguinaldo.
Pues si voy a dar a todo,
el que pide en noche buena,
yo si que voy a tener,
que pedir de puerta en puerta.
el que pide en noche buena,
yo si que voy a tener,
que pedir de puerta en puerta.
Arre borriquito, arre burro arre,
anda más deprisa que llegamos tarde.
Arre borriquito vamos a Belén,
que mañana es fiesta
y al otro también.
anda más deprisa que llegamos tarde.
Arre borriquito vamos a Belén,
que mañana es fiesta
y al otro también.
How is it in your country?
César
de Miguel Santos
