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In Andalucia, as in the rest of Spain, there is a bit of a debate regarding how deeply foreign Christmas customs should be allowed to take root.
Christmas brings great cheer across Spain as families prepare to spend the Season together over one elaborate meal after another. Every year Andalucia.com brings you a special look at Christmas and this year it is no different.
With quick and easy access from Malaga Airport, situated just outside the city, and a busy commercial port, it's no wonder that Malaga is a popular destinations for tourists and travelers alike. The city centre is located little more than 10 minutes walk from the coast where a cool drink awaits visitors at one of the many chiringuitos that line the beaches.
As of July last year, bullfighting in Catalonia is banned, joining the Canary Islands in bidding goodbye to La Fiesta. There are strong anti-bloodsports movements in other parts of Spain - even Andalucia, which is considered its home (see FACT IV) - though it remains to be seen if or when these people will achieve their aim in ensuring that trajes de luces (suits of lights, worn by bullfighters) only appear as museum pieces. An estimated 150,000 people are employed in the sport in Spain, from bull-breeders to suit makers.
It's an irresistible topic for writers - in the early 20th century, those who waxed (lyrical, or not) about La Lidia included Ernest Hemingway and DH Lawrence. For Hemingway, it was about that macho rush of adrenalin, the visceral battle of man against beast, and morbidity. In Death in the Afternoon , he remarks that "people must have an interest in death. and when they can see it being given, avoided, refused and accepted in the afternoon for a nominal price of admission, they pay their money and go to the bullring." In The Plumed Serpent, Lawrence's female protagonist takes a very different view of a corrida in Mexico City: "For the first time, a bull seemed to her a fool. She had always been afraid of bulls, fear tempered with reverence of the great Mithraic beast. And now she saw how stupid he was, in spite of his long horns and his massive maleness. Blindly and stupidly he ran at the rag, each time, and the toreadors skipped like fat-hipped girls showing off."
The origins of bullfighting are probably in the man v beast contests of the Roman gladiators. Even earlier, Palaeolithic paintings found in Spain depict men fighting bulls and other wild animals. In Greek legend, you have Theseus and the Minotaur, a half-man half-bull, while a Babylonian legend has its hero slaying a bull by thrusting his sword "between nape and horns". But there are also strong links with the popular Moorish pastime of rejoneando, where a rider would confront the bull using a (lance) in an arena (picadores in modern-day Spanish bullfighting). Portugal holds rejoneo bullfights where cavaleiros, who wear 18th-century dress and ride padded horses, are the stars, rather than the matadors, as in Spain. In Portuguese bullfights, the bull is not killed in the ring.
With its' Moorish influences still prominent across the city, highly reasonable cost of living, an abundance of great tapas bars and seemingly no end to fun and excitement, Granada really is the ultimate destination for travelers and tourists looking to have a great experience that won't cost them the earth.
Estepona extends much further east and west along the Costa del Sol than just the town centre area. Within the Estepona municipal limits you will find a wide variety of districts or neighbourhoods, most of which are dominated by spectacular views of "Sierra Bermeja" mountain which towers behind the town.
Do you want to find out some little-known interesting facts about Andalucia’s most famous towns, cities and pastimes? Which films were shot in Seville, why the Mezquita was built with its pillared arches, which Beatle loved Almeria, who brought golf to Andalucia?
Christmas Eve and Christmas Day are generally celebrated as a family with one rich meal after another served from mid-day on Christmas Eve through late night Christmas Day.
Andalucia enjoys 14 bank holidays a year. This comprises 9 National holidays, 2 whose date is set by the region, 1 regional holidays and 2 local municipal holidays. Below we list the bank holidays for this and next few years.
An important part of the lead-up to Christmas for Andalucians involves one of their favourite pastimes - shopping. This isn't just about making purchases, whether gifts or food for one of the big family meals; it's about browsing, wandering through stores looking at things, discussing them - at length and in detail - with friends and family (jamon, decorations, belen figures, shoes, kitchen equipment) over coffee.
Traditionally, very few shops used to open on a Sunday or public holiday in Andalucia. This was due to restrictions on Sunday trading by the regional government. However, since 2020, the number of Sundays when shopping centres and large supermarkets are permitted to open has increased substantially.
The Christmas season in Andalucia starts much later than those from northern Europe and North America might expect. The smell of chestnuts roasting over fires tended by street vendors will begin to waft past you as of November, and that will continue until the Three Kings make their visit to local homes in January.
Thirty kilometres north of Malaga is the 12km² Torcal de Antequera Natural Area, with one of the most dramatic and exceptional karstic landscapes in Europe. This surreal and lunar grey limestone plateau, dating from the Jurassic period, is riven by deep gullies and characterised by its fantastically weathered natural sculptures, like the Tornillo Natural Monument.
This beachfront hotel is named after a Roman bridge, which is at the centre of its lush grounds. Situated on Marbella's Golden Mile, the Puente Romano boasts nine bars and restaurants, including Japanese and Italian.
Between Marbella and Puerto Banús, set in a stunning 2,000 m2 of lush subtropical gardens on the famous Golden Mile, is the five-star NH Alanda Hotel, where you will find the Elysium Spa.
This classy beachfront hotel is an institution in Andalucia's most glamorous beach resort, with a fascinating history and a cachet other establishments would kill for. Marbella is famous for its mild microclimate.
Michelle Obama chose this hotel to stay in during her visit to Marbella in 2010. A grand Italianate palace decorated in classical style, with an elegant and exclusive air which attracts many other celebrities, it hosts the annual Starlite Gala charity event.
La Sierra del Torcal is situated some ten kilometres from the town of Antequera which, with its eastern foothills, the Sierra Pelada, results in an awesome view of majestic mountain ranges punctuated by intriguing rock formations and angles.
