Christmas in Tarragona

© Alejandro Navarro
© Alejandro Navarro
© Alejandro Navarro
© Alejandro Navarro
© Alejandro Navarro
© Alejandro Navarro
© Tjerk van der Meulen
© Alejandro Navarro
© Manel R. Granell
© Ricard Batalla Sevil
© Manel R. Granell
End of November-beginning of January

The magic of Christmas in Tarragona     

From the end of November Tarragona is decked with festive Christmas lights and hosts its annual Christmas fair. Two very rooted traditions are re-enacted: el Tió (log that gives presents) and the nativity scenes exhibited in premises of different associations and in the city’s parks. The festivities are completed with different Christmas activities: Performance of the theatre show Els Pastorets (The Little Sheperds), Christmas carol singing, and the children’s park, among others.

The Tarragona of eternal spring, the Tarragona of pure Mediterranean light, also surrenders to the charm of the Christmas festivities and the darkness of winter. The loss of daylight hours is compensated for by extensive night-time lighting turning streets such as the Rambla Nova into a dreamlike promenade and the Central Market into a spectacular spot that shines with its own light; all accompanied by the traditional Christmas and Crafts Fair, held every December. The Home dels Nassos (the man of the many noses) offers the fun counterpoint to a New Year's Eve in which hundreds of people, year after year, insist on taking a dip in the now cold waters of the Mediterranean, while the icing on the cake is the magical Three Kings Cavalcade, more than a hundred years old.