Christmas Holidays In Sunny Barcelona And The Cirque Du Soleil

Although Barcelona has recently experienced some rainy days, the sun is never far away – and that says a lot for winter in Europe.

As winter is almost never a factor in this fascinating Mediterranean city of relative mild temperatures, Christmas is as good as any other season if you’re wondering where to escape to for the festive holidays.

And a bonus is that Christmas is now celebrated twice in this part of the world: the Christian one on the 25th/26th December, but also, more traditionally, at the end of the first week of January with the arrival of the Three Kings (Los Reyes Magos).  It’s wonderful to be a child here!

Many Spanish homes have a traditional Nativity scene set up somewhere in their homes complete with exquisitely made figurines of the baby Jesus in his crib, his family, onlookers, animals, and the Three Kings.

What you might not be prepared for is the addition to this tranquil scene of a squatting figurine of a man defecating, the “caganer“. It is with relief that I can report that there’s some kind of method to this madness: the idea is that he literally ‘prepares’ the earth for the new year’s good crop.

But there’s more! Every family has a “cagatío” – this time not a crapping man but a crapping log, which is basically a wooden log with a painted face on the one side and fed by the children in the weeks before Christmas. The poor log is then beaten with a stick to force it to “drop” sweets and gifts.

The arrival of the Three Kings on the day of the Epiphany is welcomed and accompanied by young and old as they parade through the streets of Barcelona, of which many streets are closed off to traffic especially for their visit. On their way the Kings throw handfulls of sweets to happy children and onlookers, which is meant to signify the bringing of the Three Kings’ presents to the baby Jesus.

On this day shops stay open very late as it is traditionally also a day of shopping.

On the whole, as the city’s families gather and eat at home for the Christmas festivities or visit relatives in other parts of Spain, visitors to Barcelona have many of the fine restaurants all to themselves.

And this doesn’t only extend  to restaurants and eating places: all the fascinating Modernist buildings, with the spectacular architectural wonders of Gaudí foremost, wonderful museums, interesting art galleries and meeting friends in public places can be enjoyed leisurely at this time.

And if you don’t feel like a marathon cultural excursion it’s fascinating taking a relaxing stroll down the Rambla – the world famous walkway – from the top on the Plaza Catalunya side down to the bottom at the port side. On your way look out for all kinds of crazy, entertaining mime street artists trying to get your attention – and a small handout – as well as vendors of all kinds: birds, small animals, plants, jewelery, clothing and paintings. When you feel like a sit down, have a good, small coffee with milk along the way – it’s called a “tallat“. The coffees here are generally excellent.

However, there is one show in Barcelona that has been packed out by locals and visitors alike, and that is the Cirque Du Soleil circus show, called Varekei, that is currently being performed in the city until the 2nd January 2011.

This circus probably has the best of acrobats, jugglers, clowns and comedians and many other amazing artists from all over the world performing in this year’s themed show. And to the relief of animal lovers, not one trained animal in sight. The Cirque Du Soleil only has human performers.

The theme of this year’s show is that of a magical forest, high on top of a volcano, in which lives colorful, fantastical creatures. And into this hotpot of adventure, a young man literally drops from the sky to have his life changed forever.

This would definitely be an entertaining and delightful way of going into the new year -

A Very Happy 2011 To All!