Enjoy a grand Christmas season at Valencia

Over the Christmas season Valencia is filled with decorations and lights to fill the locals and tourists alike with festive cheer. From traditional Christmas Markets to carol recitals in the Mercado de Colón and Calle Don Juan de Austria, nativity scenes and special events for children; families and couples will find plenty to do and see throughout the whole season.

With daytime temperatures still warm with highs of 15°Cand up to seven hours of sunshine, a festive break in Valencia offers the unusual opportunity to take part in traditional Christmas activities, such as visiting Christmas markets and ice-skating in mild temperatures with the sun shining.

Here is a round-up of the best things to do and see in December and January:

Christmas shopping

Shopping in Valencia is excellent at any time of the year but at Christmas it’s the perfect place to pick up Xmas gifts including the latest fashions, elegant jewelry, children’s toys and original accessories. With many designer boutiques, well-known chains stores, arts and crafts shops selling ceramics, the famous Lladró porcelain, which has its factory in Valencia and of course the Disney Store for children, it will be impossible to leave empty handed.

In the city centre, on either side of Calle Colon, where the El Corte Ingles department store has various buildings, there are shopping streets with stores and boutiques for all tastes. There are many shopping areas in Valencia and stroll could take you past antique shops, interior design studios, fashion houses, basket shops, art galleries, bookshops and luxury brand boutiques.

Christmas Markets

There are also many Christmas Markets dotted around the city. There’s the traditional outdoor market that goes up in the streets surrounding the Central Market, which is open every day offering typical Christmas products including everything from food including turrones, marzipan, chestnuts, sugared almonds to gifts, decorations, nativity figures, joke toys, etc. The festive cheer is also felt in other emblematic places such as Colón market, which organises a number of events over the holiday season.

Nativity Scenes

From 1 December to 6 January one of the most important Christmas traditions in the city is the Nativity Scene that dates back to Italy in 1223, when Saint Francis of Assissi placed a manger inside a cave with an image of the Baby Jesus and a live ox and mule beside the manger. The tradition was brought to Spain by King Charles III of Spain in the 18th century. Nowadays Nativity Scenes is kept alive in people’s houses as well as in many of the city’s public spaces including the Plaza del Ayuntamiento and in shopping centres, churches, the Cathedral and many of the city’s museums, such as the Ceramics Museum.

Ice-rink at the Town Hall Square

From mid- December to mid-January the Plaza de Ayuntamiento is turned into an ice-skating rink and for around €8 a session locals and visitors can enjoy gliding round this 600 m2 ice rink in Valencia’s historic centre. The opening hours are from 11am until 2pm and from 4pm to 11pm.

Children’s events

The biggest of all the events aimed at children is the Expojove that takes place between 26 December and 4 January at Feria Valencia. The event offers all kinds of fun activities that children will enjoy. The Christmas Fair from the beginning of December until mid-January is a tradition that has been going on for a century and sells things aimed at children including painted nativity figures, toy drums, tambourines and maracas. Nowadays it includes a large funfair; including tombola’s and stalls selling typical sweets. One of the newest attractions at the Fair is the Ferris wheel, the highest in Spain at 60 meters.

In addition to these two classic attractions, other activities include the Christmas competitions organised at the Nuevo Centro shopping centre with prizes for the winners, as well as a children’s fair in the centre’s outdoor plaza. There are also workshops for children at the Museum of Sciences with everything from storytellers to face painting.

Another Christmas tradition is the arrival of the famous circuses, with Gran Circo Mundial, Gran Circo Wonderland, Circo Gran Fele and Gran Circo Americano returning year after year. Shows take place throughout December and January.

The Three Kings parade – 5 January

This is Christmas Eve for Spanish children who will open their presents on the morning of 6 January. The celebrations begin on the 5 January at 5pm when their Majesties the Three Kings disembark in the Port of Valencia and parade through the city’s streets to Plaza del Ayuntamiento. Once there they stand on the balcony of the City Hall and say a few words to the cheering crowd below. Afterwards, the City Hall opens its doors so that their Majesties, sat in the Salón de Cristal, can receive all those children who want to speak to them and receive a present.

The Three Kings Day – 6 January

This is the day Spanish children wake up to the presents they have asked for in letters delivered to various shopping centres or dropped in post boxes in the run up to Christmas. The tradition on this day is the customary eating of a Rosca de Reyes (King’s Ring), a sweet bread shaped like a wreath, with candied fruit on top, and a figurine of a baby Jesus baked inside. The person who finds the figurine is expected to host a party on Día de la Candelaria (Candlemas), celebrated on February 2nd.

New Year’s Eve Celebrations

On New Year’s Eve it’s a tradition for people to eat 12 lucky grapes to the sound of the bells seeing out the old year and bringing in the new. After this people take to the streets for a night of partying and dancing known as “cotillion” in the city’s bars and discos.

Valencia doesn’t celebrate New Year’s Eve with fireworks, but on 1 January those missing the excitement of fireworks can listen to the Mascletà Napolitana at Malvarrosa beach. The mascletá is a series of firecracker explosions with loud music blasted from speakers to create a fantastic atmosphere.