LIVING

JANUARY – Gener (in Catalan); Enero (in Castilian)

1st: New Year’s Day; Any nou; Año nuevo

New Year's Eve here is much like anywhere else (overpriced bars, drunken teenagers in the main square, bit of an anticlimax), although there are a couple of local customs you might want to adopt. The first is the wearing of red underwear to bring luck for the approaching new year and the second is the eating of 12 grapes (preferably seedless) for each bong of midnight. This isn't as easy as it might sound, and it's said that the timing of bells throughout Spain is set to run a little slower for this particular day to give us all a better chance of swallowing, rather than choking on, the little green fruit.

6th: Three Kings Day; Dia dels Reis; Día de los Reyes

The three Wise Men (Balthasar, Caspar and Melchior) bring presents for children on the evening of the 5th ready to be opened the next morning. Many towns and villages have a parade for the children on the evening of the 5th; floats pass through the streets and sweets are thrown to the kids (of all ages) who line the streets. For lunch on the 6th, families eat the tortell dels Reis; the lucky person who finds the little king figurine in his or her slice gets to wear the paper crown. But watch out for the hidden bean: the person who finds that in their piece has to pay for the cake.

17th: Sant Antoni is the local patron saint of animals and so to mark his saint's day, take your hamster, budgie, iguana or whatever pet you have (of any size!) to your local church to be blessed. if you don't have a pet, then go and watch a parade of horses and carriages: different neighbourhoods in Barcelona and towns throughout Catalunya host such processions, often featuring well-groomed horses pulling carts and carriages. In the Barcelona barri (neighbourhood) of Sant Andreu, the horse-back band of the Guàrdia Urbana also takes part in the celebrations. As with many other Catalan and Spanish festivals, there is a special cake to be eaten for Sant Antoni—similar to the tortell dels reis (see above), it is a round cake with a hole in the middle of it that has pieces of candied fruits and a little animal hidden somewhere in the cake (watch out when eating).