LIVING

1. Nativity scenes or pessebres are a key part of the Catalan Christmas experience. Most homes will have one and there are also public scenes dotted around the city. The main Barcelona one can be found in Plaça Sant Jaume, in front of the Generalitat building, and is ideal for taking children. For a more interactive experience, visit a pessebre vivent (living nativity); these events see locals dress up as characters from the Christmas story to recreate Bethlehem at the time of Jesus’s birth albeit with local touches; there are often live animals and stalls selling goods and items to eat. They are more typical in Catalan villages than cities, but the neighbourhood association of Can Baró in Horta is organising one. www.avvcanbaro.org

2. Barcelona libraries are holding activities for children based on Christmas traditions and stories; they will last two hours and cost €3.50 each. Contact your nearest library for details and to sign up.

3. The council is investing big in Barcelona’s Christmas lights this year, and some will be worth a look. Hard to miss will be the 26 two-metre-high galets (the pasta shells that are added to the traditional Christmas Day soup in Catalunya) positioned around the centre and in key spots in the city’s 10 districts. They are part of a new initiative to create festive decorations that fit in with local traditions; plans are said to be in place for giant, lit-up bottles of cava and torrones in coming years. Look out, too, for the controversial solar-panel-run lights in the form of Christmas trees that were widely disparaged last year as an unworthy environmental initiative. They are back this year in Plaça de Comas (Les Corts), Plaça Major (Nou Barris), Plaça Bonanova (Sarrià-Sant Gervasi) and Can Fabra (Sant Andreu). The city’s official Christmas lights will be inaugurated on December 2nd.

4. Although advent calendars aren’t a Catalan tradition, this year the windows of the City Council building in Plaça Sant Jaume will be made into a virtual countdown to December 25th. Images will be projected into a different open window for two hours each evening.

5. Ideal for wintry window shopping are the city’s two main Christmas markets, one in front of the Sagrada Familia and the other at the Gothic Cathedral. You don’t have to be buying to enjoy the sight of the endless Joseph, Mary and Jesus figurines waiting to be placed in family nativity scenes, or to spot this year’s most popular caganers; literally meaning shitter, this character is an essential part of the Catalan crib and represents the act of man giving back to the earth what he’s taken from it. While the traditional figure is dressed as a Catalan farmer, nowadays, politicians, footballers and other famous figures can find themselves represented as the very down-to-earth Christmas character. You’ll also find trees, decorations and gift ideas.