After more than 20 years, posts here will now only be occasional ( |
| A plethora of Christmas hams. |
December begins with two National public holidays: on 6th December for Día de la Constitución Española (Constitution Day) and 8th December for Inmaculada Concepción (The Immaculate Conception). It's often customary for people to take additional days off and tack these on to the nearest weekend and take what's known as un puente (translates to bridge). With these holidays being on a Tuesday and Thursday this year, there will probably be equal numbers taking the weekend of 3rd and 4th as there are taking the 10th and 11th.
As Christmas Day falls on a Sunday this year, Monday, 26th December will be a Public holiday in leiu. Boxing Day isn't a holiday in Spain or the Canaries.
There are no municipal public holidays in December.
If you're looking for something traditional to see during December, on Christmas Eve, 24th December, after the end of the Misa del Gallo (Midnight Mass), in La Matanza de Acentejo and in Taganana, the Baile del Niño is performed as part of the Fiestas del Niño. Groups of eight in the Santa Cruz district of Taganana and twenty-two in La Matanza; young men dressed in traditional costumes, dressed as shepherds wearing a white shirt, black pants and red sash, perform a dance in procession in front of the newborn inside the church. They are accompanied by drum, flute, tambourine, castanets and tambourine.
