1. La Navidad

2. La Navidad is Christmas in Spanish.
Christmas is celebrated differently in Spain.

3. Every family sets up a nacimiento.
They can be expensive or not, made of wood, ceramics…even chocolate.

4. Because they are a Catholic-dominated country, the children don’t believe in Santa. They believe that the Three Wisemen (Los Tres Reyes Magos) bring their gifts.

5. Instead of leaving milk and cookies, the children leave paja for the camels of the kings. They put the straw in their shoes, and they put the shoes in the window. In the morning, the shoes will be filled with gifts—like our stockings.

6. The children don’t get gifts on el 25 de diciembre
The children don’t get gifts on el 25 de diciembre. They get them on el 6 de enero. That is the date that the kings were to have reached the manger in Bethlehem.

7. El 25 de diciembre, results for EL GORDO are announced
El 25 de diciembre, results for EL GORDO are announced. El Gordo is one of the oldest and largest lotteries around.

8. Tickets are very expensive, but El Gordo pays two-billion Euros
Tickets are very expensive, but El Gordo pays two-billion Euros!!! You don’t have to buy an entire ticket, but if you don’t buy the whole ticket, you don’t win all of the money…

9. You can buy un décimo or whatever fraction of the ticket you want
You can buy un décimo or whatever fraction of the ticket you want. Someone else will buy the rest of the ticket. If your number comes up, you get the percentage of the cash that you bought. Lots of times, families, friends, colleagues or civic groups will go together to buy a whole ticket.

10. That’s why you will see signs in windows of businesses that say “Jugamos con el número…”