Catalonia, Spain

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to spend Christmas in different parts of the world? I have! I love to travel and this Christmas season I have decided to do my homework and find out what it would be like travel to around the world on that night.

I am going to start in Catalonia, Spain...

Christmas Eve in Spain is called the Nochebuena, the Good Night.

This is the Good Night,

And so is not meant for sleep

is a popular saying that illustrates the easy Latin grace with which Spanish people combine fairs and Nativity dramas, Midnight Mass and street dancing, in celebration of Jesus' birth.

  Almost every town and village has an elaborate Christmas Eve fair. There are toys and marzipan, flowers, fruits, vegetables, ducks, and small figures of wood or plaster for the nacimentos, or Nativity scenes.

  At twelve o'clock midnight, church bells summons worshippers to Midnight Mass. Richly robed clergy perform the Misa del Gallo, or Cock Crow Mass, to the accompaniment of hymns and chants by choir boys and priests.

  Sometimes Nativity plays form a part of the religious ceremonies. At the Monastery of Montserrat, in Catalonia, magnificent processions, Gregorian chants, and medieval carols glorify the Good Night.
  In some cities merrymakers dance in the streets and sing from Midnight Mass until dawn. Christmas Day, following services at the church, is a time of feasting and gaiety. 

  Among the most exciting features of Christmas - as of any feast day in Spain - are parades of the gigantes, much like this video. The gigantes are immense figures made of wood or cardboard. A figure that may measure twenty or thirty feet in height rests on the shoulders of a man hidden inside. The gigantes represent kings, queens, historical, or mythological figures. They dance, jig and whirl to the lively music of the fife and drum. A pair of gypsies usually accompanies the figures and collects Christmas contributions from the spectators.