What To Do For Christmas In Barcelona
EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO ENJOY CHRISTMAS IN BARCELONA
Many will argue that Barcelona during Christmas is not a Christmas wonderland… And while at a first sight it might look like it’s true, you can still find the spirit of Christmas in the air if you know where to go. So if you are going to be in Barcelona for the holy season, and you want to partake in the local Christmas celebrations, this post is what you need! We’ve compiled all the local traditions, foods, festivals and unique things to do, so you can plan your Christmas in Barcelona in a breeze!
Cherished Christmas traditions
1
Nativities (and a pooping man)
One of my our Christmas traditions in Spain is setting up nativities. We do it at home, but there’s also many public nativity scenes scattered around the city! Locals always find a moment to check out the real size Nativity in the cloister of the Cathedral of Saint Eulalia and the one in Plaça Sant Jaume (unless the city council decides to swap it by something “inclusive” like the giant star we got in 2024). There’s also a lovely smaller one set up in the courtyard of the Palau del Lloctinent. If you like them, then you shouldn’t miss the Nativities Diorama exhibit at the Bethlehem Church in La Rambla.
And what’s this about a pooping man? In a nativity? Is it a joke? No! It’s definitely a Catalan !thing!
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A log that poops presents: the Tió
So to stay in theme… We have one more pooping tradition for Christmas in Barcelona! Because Santa doesn’t bring presents to Catalan kids. Instead, presents here are pooped by the Tió, a log with a happy face painted in one end, that also wears a barretina bonnet. Kids feed it nuts and food scraps through December and cover it with a blanket to keep it warm and cozy. Then on Christmas day the kids hit it with sticks while singing a song that basically threatens it to be burned unless it poops presents and sweets. And it delivers!
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Are Christmas trees popular?
Christmas trees are a must at most Barcelona households during the holy season although families are quite chill about it and don’t go overboard with them the way Americans go, for instance. And that is why Barcelona doesn’t have giant Christmas trees that people celebrate like the famous one in New York. You’ll always find one in a corner of Plaça Sant Jaume, set up by the city council. And probably most shopping malls will have one somewhere as well. But that’s the closest to an instagrammable Christmas tree moment you’ll get.
Where to find the best Barcelona Christmas markets
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Santa Llucia fairs
Nowadays they are set up earlier and they last until December 24th. So you won’t get to see them if you are visiting after Christmas day.
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More Christmas markets in Barcelona
Besides the Santa Llucia fairs there’s also other seasonal markets that take place during Christmas time in Barcelona. Here is a quick list, but you’ll find more detailed information in this post.
- Toy Market in Gran Via de les Corts Catalanes. Open until January 5th.
- Kathe Wohlfahrt. A Christmas-themed store selling Christmas ornaments all year long.
- Flower market in Las Ramblas. Technically not an official Christmas market, but I’ve always been fascinated by the red and green colors of the poinsettias that fill the stalls during Christmas.
And if you are willing to drive out of town:
- Nativities Market in Olot. Located two hours away from Barcelona, this fair takes place around December 8th and it’s THE place to find the most gorgeous and delicate handcrafted nativities.
- Rooster fair in Vilafranca del Penedes. Located one hour away from Barcelona, it’s an atmospheric mix of live poultry market and local traditional celebrations.
- Fir Tree fair in Espinelves. 1.5 hours drive from Barcelona, it’s the perfect countryside Christmas market where you’ll find natural fir trees, moss, holy and handmade ornaments.
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Christmas villages
Christmas villages aren’t purely markets but a mix of stalls, rides, and traditional activities where you can submerge in the Christmas spirit. Here is where you’ll find some of the most popular ones:
- Festival de Nadal in Plaça Catalunya. The central plaza of Barcelona gets decorated with an immersive Christmas scenery and will host daily music, theater, dance and circus performances.
- Nadal al Port in the Moll de la Fusta pier. A giant ferris wheel, an ice skating ring, a carousel and a handful of other rides for the little ones, plus plenty of food trucks and artisan stalls.
- Christmas Village at the Palace Hotel. Get to the rooftop of the Palace hotel to find a cute gingerbread house cafe, a small Christmas market and an afternoon tea with Santa Claus. Your kids can also sign up for their gingerbread house workshop. Are you still on time to book a room at the most Christmassy hotel in town?
- Natalis at Poble Espanyol. The Spanish Village for Christmas becomes Natalis, a Christmas wonderland divided in 5 different Christmas worlds full of magic, traditions and fun. The little ones will also be able to access Wishland, where they’ll be able to deliver their letters to Santa Claus and the Wise Men. Get tickets >>
Be mesmerized by the Christmas lights
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Christmas lights on the streets
And make sure to finish with a stop by Sagrada Familia to admire the magnetic light of the star that crowns the tower of the Virgin Mary. Need some guidance to explore the Barcelona Christmas lights? Find our recommended itinerary here.
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Sant Pau Christmas garden
Every year the gardens of the Modernist enclosure of the Hospital of Sant Pau get decorated with beautiful light strings and light sculptures. When the last tourist leaves, the enclosure gets covered with the spirit of Christmas. Get a a cup of mulled wine and walk around this magical world. IMPORTANT: the Christmas garden ticket only gives you access to the garden grounds but not to the Modernist buildings (for them you’ll have to visit in the morning during tourist visit time).
9
Casa Batllo "A Winter Night" Mapping Show
The Christmas mapping shows over the façade of Casa Batllo have become a must of Barcelona in Christmas time. Running from mid-November until the end of January, every 30 minutes there’s a screening lasting a few minutes during which the building is covered with lights and visual effects to the sound of music. The show is free, so arrive early on in order to grab a good spot in front of the building.
10
Christmas lights tour bus
And for those who don’t want to walk and prefer to just seat on an open-top double decker bus and been shown around the best Christmas lights in Barcelona, like every year Barcelona Bus Turistic, the city hop-on hop-off bus, offers a Christmas-special itinerary to discover the best Christmas lights. IMPORTANT: The regular hop-on hop-off tickets can’t be used for the Evening Christmas Lights edition – you need a separate ticket for it.
Foods that people eat in Barcelona at Christmas time
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Turron and other sweet treats
And then you mustn’t forget the rest of the other delicious Christmas desserts: marzipan, “neules” (waffle cylinders)… Discover all the local specialties here. And even if it’s not exclusive of the holy season, you can’t leave Barcelona in the winter without trying hot chocolate and churros.
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Traditional Christmas menus
And what do Spanish people eat at home on the special Christmas dates? December 24 and New Year’s Eve don’t have a particular dish assigned: people will do seafood, smoked salmon, game meats, roasted lamb or roasted piglet… Plus a never-ending assortment of holiday starters.
But in Catalonia on December 25 for lunch families gather around the most earthy soup you could imagine: a super rich pasta soup of a broth made with a variety of meats, veggies and beans, and followed by all the tasty left-overs of the ingredients used to make the broth. The meal consists of a starter (the soup) and a main course (the left overs) and the entire thing is called escudella i carn d’olla.
Then the next day, December 26, the remaining left overs used to be transformed into a delicious stuffing for cannelloni. But to be honest, nobody wants to rely on left overs to host a family gathering, and nobody wants to spend their morning cooking instead of getting the house ready for the guests. So nowadays most families will either prepare the cannelloni in advance and freeze them, or get them delivered from their local restaurant of choice.
The last festive day in the Barcelona Christmas calendar is January 6th, and while for that day the menu is similar to Christmas Eve or New Years, the dessert is not just the treats we discussed above, but a ring-shapped cake stuffed with marzipan (or other less traditional alternatives): the Tortell de Reis. Inside the cake lies hidden a small figurine of a king and a fava bean. if you get the piece of cake with the king figurine, you are crowned King or Queen of the family (with a gold paper crown that comes with the cake), and if you find the fava bean you’ll have to pay for the cake next year.
More things to do in Barcelona for Christmas
13
Ice Skating
The L’Illa shopping mall usually has one set up in the gardens behind it, but in 2024 the area will be closed for works.
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Concerts
The top concert halls in Barcelona always organize some kind of Christmas concert. Check out Gran Teatre del Liceu, L’Auditori and Palau de la Música for that. But for something very local and typical from Christmas time, don’t miss the Chant of the Sybil (Cant de la Sibil·la). Half way between a concert and a theater play, it is sung right before Christmas mass inside some churches and represents a Sybil (either a young boy or a woman) that predicts the arrival of the Messiah. In Barcelona, the most famous ones are those performed in the Cathedral of Barcelona and Santa Maria del Mar.
And don’t forget that the Escolania de Montserrat is offering a charity concert at the Christmas Village of El Palace hotel!
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Theater and dance shows
Like everywhere in the world, the Nutcracker (El Trencanous in Catalan, or El Cascanueces in Spanish) is a must of Christmas time. The Gran Teatre del Liceu and the Palau de la Musica Catalana often program it. And this year the Ballet of Kiev will be also showing it in the Teatre Coliseum, and Candelight is presenting it at the Axa Auditorium. And every year a local troupe called Som-hi Dansa organizes their own family-friendly version, as well (in Catalan, though). There’sa also an amateur Nutcracker in Sarria. Candlelight also organizes a Christmas Classics concert as well.
Or for something really local, try to hit a representation of Els Pastorets (in Catalan, but why not?). It’s a traditional play that starts with the story of Mary and Joseph heading to Bethlehem, then continues with a fight between the Angels and the Devils, and ends with the adventures of two shepherds called Lluquet i Rovello, that the Devil wants to tempt into darkness and how they manage to escape. This last part is silly and fun. Many district theaters schedule viewings and the tickets sell out fast as families love taking their kids to see the show. I recommend the ones at El Centre in Gracia and at the Teatre de Sarria.
Or if you have your own means of transportation, there’s many Catalan villages that organize “Pessebres Vivents” – living nativities where you are led through an outdoors natural itinerary dotted with scenes of the Nativity such as the Annunciation, the wedding of Joseph and Mary, the trip to Bethlehem, the birth of Jesus and the adoration of the shepherds and the Wise Men. One that can be accessed by public transportation is the one in Corbera de Llobregat. We also recommend the one in Mon Sant Benet. Tickets sell out. Dress warmly: it gets really cold.
Finally, your kids will love to visit the Fabrica de Joguines, the magical place where the toys that the Three Wise Men will bring to the Catalan kids on January 6th are manufactured. There’s two of them: one in Fabra i Coats, and one in Can Trinxet, in the neighboring town of L’Hospitalet. Both are endearing shows where you get to interact with the elves and other magical factory staff. The shows are in Catalan, but you don’t need to speak the language to understand what’s going on and feel like a kid again. Tickets sell out fast, too!
16
Lottery
As Christmas approaches, it’s not unusual to see long lines of people at the local lottery shops. What is that about? Two of the largest lotteries of the year in Spain happen during the Christmas season. One of them is El Gordo de Navidad, drawn on the Sunday before Christmas. And the other one is the Lotería del Niño, that takes place on January 6th. If you want to buy a ticket, the most famous vendors are El Gato Negro on 1, Pelai street and Loteria Valdes on the 88 of La Rambla.
Christmas dates that you need to plan in advance
December 24 - Christmas Eve
Then dinner SHOULD NEVER be played by ear… unless you are happy to go fast food that evening, that is. The average tapas bar will likely be closed, and those that are open will be fully booked. And the same will happen with normal restaurants. Do plan ahead and book your table in advance.
Finally, the most traditional Christmas mass in Catalonia is the Missa del Gall – the mass on Christmas Eve around midnight. If you are interested in attending mass, check out this post.
December 25 - Christmas Day
Shops will be closed on December 25, and many sites are closed or close early. Sagrada Familia, for instance, only opens for a few hours and the tickets sell out fast (never ever show up at Sagrada Familia without tickets – they don’t even have ticket boxes anymore. Get your tickets online as soon as you know your travel dates. Otherwise, Park Guell and Casa Batllo are safe bets because they open every day of the year – but they are also likely to sell out, so get your tickets in advance as well!
And they area also probably the only tourist sites that remain open on Christmas day after lunch. So finding things to do that afternoon and evening can be tricky… A walk around the Gothic Quarter, a movie, hot chocolate… You’ll find more ideas here. As for restaurants, do book lunch in advance unless you’ll be skipping lunch or eating fast food. You may be luckier playing by ear for dinner as locals will definitely not be eating out, but some restaurants and tapas bars might be closed.
December 26 - Sant Esteve (Boxing Day)
December 26 is a date that catches many visitors unprepared, since most don’t expect it to be a holiday. And the truth is that locals consider it a second Christmas day. Shops closed and most sites closed as well, with Sagrada Familia still opening only for a few hours and thus selling out faster than usual. But at least La Pedrera is back to its usual schedule. So refer to my tips for December 25 for guidelines of what to do on December 26. My restaurant recommendations are exactly the same as for the previous day.
December 31 - New Year's Eve
December 31st works similarly to December 24, just swap Christmas mass with New Year’s celebrations. Shops are mostly open until their usual closing time (small family-owned ones may close a bit earlier, though). Some sites also close earlier than usual. No problem finding a place to eat lunch, but DO BOOK DINNER in advance. And figure out where you’ll go after dinner if you are planning to party until late: as soon as the countdown is over the locals will quickly head to wherever they’ve planned and the streets will be deserted. You’ll be lucky to find a party to join last minute if you haven’t planned beforehand. And here are some more tips for a successful New Year’s Eve in Barcelona (and to learn why we eat grapes with each toll, rather than counting down aloud).
January 1 - New Year's Day
January 1st is quiet in Barcelona… Locals are sleeping in, and most of them will be receiving family at home for lunch rather than go out. And for many visitors the holidays are over and it’s time to head back home. Shops will be closed, and for most sites it’s again like in December 25 and 26: some sites closed, some opening only in the morning (yes, that’s again the case of Sagrada Familia, and yes, it does sell out faster than usual so get tickets in advance). Casa Batllo, Park Guell and La Pedrera are available options. And for more ideas, my post about Christmas Day also applies to New Year’s Day.
January 5 - Nit de Reis (Wise Men Eve)
January 5 works like a normal day until the late afternoon. Shops are open (unless it’s a Sunday) and the sites are open on their usual schedule – except the Picasso museum, which closes a bit earlier. But you’ll notice that the city center gets the traffic cut in most streets (bad day to take a taxi!) and the area gets packed with families with kids. They are getting ready for the Wise Men Parade, and it’s advised to arrive at least 2 hours earlier to secure a good spot. If you want to know more about this festivity, of course I have a blog post about it!
January 6 - Dia de Reis (Epiphany Day)
So we have reached the last official day of Christmas time in Barcelona (or Spain, for what matters). January 6 is a holiday, so shops will be closed. Some sites are closed, and some other such as Sagrada Familia (couldn’t be otherwise!) only open in the morning. But Casa Batllo, la Pedrera and Park Guell continue to be available options for the whole day. It’s a good idea to book lunch in advance, because while most locals will be staying at home to celebrate, some families prefer to use a restaurant and spare themselves the trouble of cooking. Dinner should be like any other day, though.
Do you have plans in Barcelona for Christmas?
Marta
Marta is the founder of ForeverBarcelona. She is a passionate tour guide that loves Barcelona and loves writing too. She is the main author of our Blog, and is committed to sharing her knowledge about Barcelona and her best tips with our readers.
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