Sitges is a cosmopolitan resort set on a headland at the northern end of Spains Costa Dorada, just 25 miles from Barcelona. Holidays to Sitges became popular in the early 1900′s, leaving a legacy of luxurious mansions and villas.

Sitges

 Today Sitges has a trendy laid-back Bohemian atmosphere and is very popular with the gay community. With Catalan tapas bars, restaurants, fashion boutiques, designer shops and antique shops the town attracts many trendy arty people. The beautiful seafront promenade and the narrow winding streets of the old town offer a welcome break from the hustle and bustle of the main town. The old town and the seafront come to life at night with many clubs, discos, bohemian bars, traditional restaurants and sidewalk cafes.

Discover Sitges heritage by visiting the three museums which are home to works by Picasso and El Greco, the 17th century waterfront church and by exploring the maze of tiny streets lined with fascinating Catalan architecture.

Sitges

Sitges has over 3 miles of beautiful sandy beaches including nine which have been awarded a Blue Flag. The beaches here cater for everyone with stretches of beach for families, gay areas and secluded nudist areas. There is a range of watersports available on the Sitges beaches including scuba diving, jet skiing, water skiing, water motor biking, windsurfing, surfing, sailing and pedalos. Many of the beaches offer group excercise classes and have organised beach games such as volleyball. The beaches are less busy in the Autumn when temperatures hover around 20C to 25C with sea temperatures still a very pleasant 20C to 23C.

Away from the beach activities include hiking in the Garraf Mountains, horse rides along the coastal paths and golf. For the more adventurous there is skydiving, hang-gliding, hot-air ballooning, 4×4 adventure trips and quad biking.

Carnival Time

Sitges is home to the famous Carnival, lasting for days on end and attracting thousands of people. Watch out for the late deals to Sitges and experience the amazing carnival drag shows. Other events which take place in Sitges include the International Film Festival, the Corpus Christi exhibition, the Classic Car Rally, Jazz and Tango Festivals and many concerts throughout the summer months.

This vibrant town has a typically Mediterranean climate with more than 300 hours of sunshine a year. During July and August temperatures often reach 28C and humidity levels can be high. Popular for family holidays all year round Sitges offers the opportunity to visit the amazing city of Barcelona, Tarragona and Montserrat, not forgetting the fantastic Port Aventura theme park which is a day out the whole family will love.

Christmas is celebrated in different ways in the various regions of Spain.

The majority of families enjoy their main Christmas meal on Christmas Eve before they attend Midnight Mass which is also known as The Mass of the Rooster (La Misa Del Gallo). It is known as this as it is believed that a rooster crowed on the night that Jesus was born.
After Mass the people walk through the streets playing guitars and drums, and wishing everyone a Merry Christmas.

A traditional Spanish Christmas dinner is turkey stuffed with mushrooms whilst in Galicia (north-west Spain) seafood is more popular.

Spanish children open most of their presents at Epiphany (January 6th) as this is the day that they believe the Kings bring them presents. Epiphany is when the three wise men brought gifts for the baby Jesus. The Three Kings of the Epiphany are Gaspar representing frankincense, Melchior representing gold and Balthazar representing myrrh. The children leave gifts for the Kings, a glass of cognac, a satsuma and walnuts.
In many of the larger towns an Epiphany parade is held with each King riding on a camel shaped throne.

Roscon

Roscon, a special cake, is eaten at Epiphany. This doughy type cake is filled with chocolate or cream and contains a small gift.

On December 28th the Day of The Innocent Saints is celebrated. This is when people play tricks on each other, very much like April 1st in the UK. This day is when the babies that were killed on the orders of King Herod when he was trying to kill the baby Jesus are remembered.

In the Catalan region of Spain they have a Christmas character called Tio de

Tio de Nadal

 Nadal (the Christmas log). This strange character is made from a hollow log with two legs and a smiley face painted on one end. Starting on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception (December 8th) the family feeds the log with scraps of food and give it a blanket to keep warm. On Christmas Eve or Christmas Day the log is hit with sticks so that it drops sweets, nuts and fruit until garlic falls from the log which means that there will be no more treats that year.

On Christmas Eve in the Basque country (northern Spain) presents are

Olentzero

delivered by a mystical man called Olentzero who dresses just like a Basque farmer.

With many expats living in Spain Christmas is the ideal time to take up one of the many travel deals to Spain on offer and spend the Christmas holidays with loved ones living there.

There are lots of last minute holiday deals to Spain available throughout the internet.

Merry Christmas
Feliz Navidad
Bon Nadal
Bo Nadal