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Christmas Day - Día de Navidad

Teide with snow

Many locals and tourists alike visit Mount Teide on Christmas Day - which can be snow-capped at this time of year - that it's almost a ritual. The trip - only an hour or so's drive - is a real "Christmas experience", passing through the Canary pine forests, seeing the vast number of wild poinsettias and other natural Christmas decorations en route. You can just stay in the resort, but it seems such a shame, when you have all this natural, real Christmas ambience on the doorstep.

Wrap up in a jacket, but if you get cold, call into one of the mountain's bars for churros con chocolate ... hot chocolate into which you dip the now popular donut things. Provided you're not the day's designated driver, you might also like to try a Lumumba, which is hot chocolate and brandy. Lethal at high altitude.

Play in the snow, then just an hour or so later, you could be back on the beach, enjoying the average 22-26º C (71-79º F) year-round temperatures.

Where else in the world can you do all of this on Christmas Day?

Christmas Lunch

For most locals, Christmas Day is just a recovery day from the celebrations of Christmas Eve. Whilst you can get a traditional British-style Christmas Lunch in the resorts, don't expect there to be a Christmas menu at the few Canarian restaurants you may find open elsewhere. Many will close, except those in areas where they expect there to be any number of tourists. In homes, rabbit was the traditional fayre, a Canarian staple, or a barbecued goat kid, but the quantity of turkey being sold in supermarkets has risen sharply in recent years.

One year, before their commercial arrival, two turkeys were acquired by my neighbours, brought up in someone's mother's back yard. I'm not really keen on personally knowing my dinner in life and thought it poetic justice when the chap who had been given the job of dispatching the victim, presented his finger, all bandaged, after the unfortunate bird had put up a bit of resistance.

In the evening, watch the annual Christmas Day Concert from Santa Cruz.

Christmas Eve Traditions in Tenerife

Church of Our Lady of the Consolation in El Palmar

The main celebrations in the Canary Islands, as in most European countries, are on Nochebuena (Christmas Eve), when the family get together to share an evening meal. Food revolves around the sweet treats, with Truchas de Batata (sweet potato pies) plus fruit, nuts and a huge array of seasonal sweets.

For many years I spent Christmas Eve, Nochebuena, in 'El Pueblo' (the village), Canarian style. The typical fayre, generally, is barbecued meat with boiled potatoes. Yams are usually eaten after the meal, sweetened with sugar or honey (palm honey is good too). If resources permit, a whole goat kid or suckling pig is preferable as tradition dictated that this meal should not be of fish. For many poor families here, Christmas Eve is one of the few celebration times when they will have any quantity of meat, so it is very simply prepared and quickly enjoyed.

Celebrations may go on quite late and the gathered family will probably start singing and playing Canarian Folk music. This isn't traditionally a time for the exchanging of gifts: traditionally, that comes later, at Epiphany, although the fortunate few kids may get some gifts from Santa now and the rest from The Kings later, as it gives them time to play with toys during the holidays.

Long ago the Christmas Eve meal was served after attending the Misa de Gallo (Midnight Mass): the 24th being a day of fasting and abstinence, but that has tended to change these days. The mass, at which carols may be sung, being left out altogether by a large majority. In Los Cristianos and other multi-nationally populated areas, there are usually carol services in a wonderful pot-purri of Spanish, English, German and Latin. In smaller villages, local children perform the Nativity (often with humorous interpretation), while folk groups provide the accompaniment. One year at El Palmar, the dialogue translated, roughly:

Joseph: (to innkeeper) "Can we come in, only my wife isn't feeling too good?"

Innkeeper: "Well, if she's ill she can't come in here. Take her to the health centre!

I don't remember that being in the original version. It was truly unexpected and had everyone rolling in the isles at the Nativity in the little church.

Tenerife Land of Eternal Christmas

Sunbathing SantaDesert Island ChristmasScuba Diving SantaTropical Santa
Santa's Having a Whale of a TimeSurfing SantaWaterski SantaCamel Rodeo Santa
With a wide range of products in each design, click the pics (above) to see the full selections.