In Mallorca in December everything is under the sign of Christmas. That’s why I’m not focusing on excursions and activities this month, but instead I’m introducing you to the Christmas season in Mallorca. From the end of November, when the Christmas lights are switched on, until 6. January, when the 3 kings come. Yes, a very long Christmas and an equally long article. Therefore, get yourself a cup of mulled wine and some cookies before you start and follow along with me Mallorca in December, to see how Christmas looks like in Mallorca.
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The Christmas season and Christmas is celebrated in Mallorca very different than in Germany. I originally come from the Erzgebirge, the Christmas land par excellence. Why it was quite a change to spend December at 18 degrees in the beginning. Nevertheless, there are many traditions and customs that also bring Christmas spirit on the sunny island. Only completely differently.
The weather in Mallorca in December
Every year I decorate my house at 18 º Celsius and bright blue sky Christmas. I always get so sweaty that I walk around with short sleeves. Provided that Christmas in Mallorca we always sit outside for lunch.
This is very bizarre. Because November is usually much milder. But the weather situation on Mallorca in December, especially around the holidays, is always so that it almost becomes summery again. Of course no comparison to the summer months, but even for the locals on the island December is not a cold month.
Average temperatures in Mallorca in December
Furthermore, December in Mallorca is much drier than October or November. The statistics speak of course a different language than I and are less subjectively colored. On average, it rains in December in Mallorca only on a maximum of six days. The average sunshine duration is five hours a day. The average maximum temperature is 14 degrees. The water is about one degree warmer. At night it can be up to 5 degrees cold.
Do you need winter clothes in Mallorca in December?
It all depends on what you have in mind. If your activities are limited to the plains and the beaches, you certainly don’t need a complete winter outfit. But we wear our winter jackets in December. If not now, when? And even if it is not so cold, the weather is sometimes uncomfortable. On the beaches it can be windy and due to the high humidity the (relative) coldness also pulls much faster into the bones. So warmer shoes and lined jackets are not wrong at all. And if you get sweaty during your activities, you can take them off at any time.
Can you swim in Mallorca in December?
The very brave dare to go into the sea even in December. I surely don’t have to mention that these are usually not Mallorcans. Whether you want that, at about 15 degrees, is up to you. I have once resolved to be on the 1. January as a start to the new year to go swimming. It stayed with the plan. My son and I stood on the beach and already shivered in our warm jackets.
Sunsets in December
In December you can see the most dramatic sunsets in Mallorca. Since the sun sets very early and there are often clouds in the sky, Mallorca is bathed in the evening hours in the most colorful colors. Generally you can watch this spectacle everywhere. But some places are even more suitable. Here we reveal our best spots to watch the sunset on Mallorca.
Christmas in Mallorca
There is no official countdown on Mallorca in December like in Germany, which counts down the days until Christmas by means of the Advent Sundays or Advent calendars. Although we Germans on the island of course maintain our traditions, and in the discounters a variety of Advent calendars are available, which also find their way to the Mallorcans. However, they are not part of the Mallorcan tradition.
Christmas in Mallorca 2021: Events& Activities
Christmas on Mallorca: Gifts& Books
In the next sections it will be very detailed about Christmas in Mallorca. In case you have the thought that you are still missing some presents, we will take care at this point. There are a lot of original, special and maybe even unknown things that every Mallorca lover is happy about.
On the one hand there are very many things that represent Mallorca directly. typical products, like olive oil, salt from Es Trenc or handicrafts made of olive wood. In our post Typically Malloca, you’ll find all things Mallorca. And also one or the other suitable gift.
For book lovers there are incredibly many books on the subject of Mallorca. Here we have selected the – in our eyes – most exciting books for the whole family.
And if you’re still looking for that special something at this point, you’re sure to find it in the slightly different alternative gift ideas to Mallorca. Among them are toys, jewelry and everyday objects.
Christmas markets on Mallorca in December
There are very many different Christmas markets to Christmas in Mallorca. Unlike in Germany, however, most are not organized by official bodies and therefore sometimes last only a few days. One of these markets takes place in the Pueblo Espanol instead of. Besides arts and crafts, mulled wine and a Christmas choir, there is even artificial snow there. For this you have to pay but also first 5, – Euro entrance fee. [> Read more]
The largest and most typical Mallorcan Christmas market is held in the City center of Palma built up. But be careful: This has absolutely nothing to do with what we Germans understand by Christmas market. There are pointed tongues who think that the Mallorcans could definitely make a little more effort for once. The Germans have been showing us for a long time how a real Christmas market should look like.
Polemics, if you ask me. The Christmas market in Palma’s city center may look more like a funfair. But for it one finds also only there what Majorcan Christmas typical makes. For example nativity figures. Underneath a little shit. And a log to beat. What it has to do with it, I explain to you immediately.
Mallorca in December: Shopping& Enjoy
Shortly before Christmas in Palma everywhere the most delicious things are produced and sold. Last year we had the unique opportunity to visit the oldest stores and places of Palma on a guided tour, tasting and trying the most typical things. We invite you to do the same. Here we tell you about the culinary shopping tour that you can easily follow.
Christmas cribs in Mallorca in December
What the German the Tannenbaum is the Spaniard the Christmas crib. Real trees are found at Christmas in Mallorca in the Mallorcan households only rarely. If at all, plastic monsters stand here in the living rooms. Gladly also in white or black. Mostly with colorful, flashing lights.
Much more important Christmas tree is however the Christmas crib. It is the most important symbol of the Christmas season and is always in motion during the entire month of December. According to the Christmas story, the figures are moved every day.
Not only the typical players are represented, but also quite ordinary Mallorcans. Farmers, bakers and very important Caganer. There is no official translation. I call it the little shit. A figure doing the emergency somewhere near the Holy Family.
Many banks, town halls and libraries have large Christmas cribs, which are open to the public at Christmas and in some cases all year round. Read on here if you would like to see one of these nativity scenes, or even just the little bugger.
Christmas in Mallorca: traditions and customs
Christmas wreaths, Christmas trees, baking cookies: These are all beautiful Christmas traditions that are not found in Mallorca. cookies are baked at Easter and the rest is ignored. On the other hand there are completely different things.
Christmas lights and decorations
The Christmas lighting plays at Christmas in Mallorca in the houses of the Mallorcans rather a minor role. When they make the effort, they are usually colorful flashing garlands of lights, which are thrown somewhere above. Santa Clauses are also very popular (Papa Noel) and figures of the 3 kings (Los Reyes Magos), which climb in different positions on the facades.
However, an important Christmas lighting is that of the city or town. Particularly much importance is attached to it in Palma. More lights are placed there than in any other Spanish city. The decoration is so extensive that it is already started in October. Officially and very solemnly, the lights are switched on during a festival of lights at the end of November. Until January, it bathes the old town of Palma in a magical light. All information about the date can be found here.
Tio Caga Turro
Sometimes it is not easy to find german translations. Tio is called in Spanish the uncle or his buddies. Turro is a typical Christmas snack. And the verb between denotes the end of the digestive process.
The thing I’m talking about here, however, is just a thick tree trunk painted with a face. In the past the parents hid sweets under it. Today there are specially made logs, with compartments where the rump is supposed to be.
The meaning of it all? The children hit the wood and shout: Tio, tio caga turro (so very casually: Dude, kack Schoki!) and the log poop choc pieces. Today this Catalan custom no longer so widespread, although in the Mallorcan Christmas markets it is Tios is available for purchase in all sizes. They are usually placed by the nativity figures. Next to the Caganer. So thematically correct.
El Gordo – The Fat Man
Lotteries of any kind are important in Spain not only at Christmas time. At Christmas, however, it is hardly possible not to participate. Every school and club sells numbers in December in Mallorca for the so-called Rifas. An unwritten law wants it that really everyone in the place must buy a lottery ticket. To win there are usually baskets with delicacies for the Christmas dinner. The profits are donated by local businesses and the profits go to the school.
Every year on 22. December it becomes particularly serious. Then the drawing of the big national Christmas lottery takes place. Every year since 1812, wooden balls are drawn from two large lottery drums. One drum contains five-digit lottery numbers, the other the prizes.
The baubles are pulled by students of a Madrid school, who prepare for it the whole school year. They sing the number of the lot as well as the prize. And it sounds like this:
Each five-digit lot number exists ten times. If you want to buy a whole series, all the same numbers, it costs 200 euros. Of course hardly anyone does that. Why colleagues, friends and families get together and divide a series among themselves. There is a little peer pressure. No one wants to be the only colleague to go away empty-handed when the improbable happens and that very serial number picks up a big prize.
The main prize is called "El Gordo", the fat man. Every Spaniard hopes to win this one someday. In 2017, in the video above, it was worth 4 million euros. There a tenth of it then already paid off.
Christmas Eve and Santa Claus
It is important to Christmas Eve especially the midnight mass, the Misa del Gallo. The fair of the rooster. Because it is said in Mallorca that it was the rooster who first announced the birth of Jesus. During the mass a girl with white robe and sword sings a medieval song. The singing of the Sibilla is about the apocalypse and belongs since 2010 to the world cultural heritage of UNESCO. Besides the Sibilla you can possibly meet the royal family in the cathedral of Palma on Christmas Eve.
Traditionally there are neither on 24. still on 25. December gifts. Because in Spain Three Kings, Who deliver the gifts. And that only at the beginning of January. However, nowadays there is hardly a family in which at least small presents are not handed over.
In some towns, presents can be deposited in advance at the town hall, which are then distributed by Santa Claus in a public square on Christmas Eve. Santa Claus does not come to Mallorca by sleigh, but rather by tractor and boat, which sometimes goes wrong.
Culinary at Christmas in Mallorca
There is only one christmas day in Mallorca. The is usually spent with festive food in the family. What exactly comes on the table, you will learn in the following.
leg of ham and seafood
In one of my first years on Mallorca, I took a ham leg back to Germany for Christmas. In hand luggage. The Spanish security were very happy.
My family-in-law has a club like this in the kitchen for the whole month of December. At most meals, especially as Christmas approaches, a small plate of food is served as an appetizer finely shaved strips of ham served. By the way, not everyone can cut ham. I for my part for example not. If I try, there are ham rinds. That’s why the task of slicing ham never falls to me. In the meantime, hams are also sold in German supermarkets. I imagine that I have given the impetus.
Many meals around Christmas time consist of Tapas, so small plates with different things on them. Olives can not be missing, delicious cheese and any kind of seafood. Gambas, mussels, squid. The prices of everything from the sea increase significantly at Christmas, which is why, as a capable Mallorcan housewife (la Dona) fills the pantry beforehand, of course.
Turron
As early as October, blocks are stacked in supermarkets, usually wrapped in glitter foil. Hip gold, you could call it. These are massively thick chocolate, which, in addition to nougat, also like to be peppered with nuts and dried fruit. Delicious they are, but unfortunately also terrible seal pullers.
Hot chocolate
Have you ever drunk mulled wine at 20 degrees Celsius? You have to try it. Does not taste, but it turns faster. Mulled wine is not necessarily a Mallorcan thing. The Mallorcan equivalent of mulled wine, if you will, is the Hot chocolate. Yes dear friends, it doesn’t always have to be alcohol. Sugar is also enough. As soon as it gets a little colder, the chocolate caliente to it. And I’m not talking about cocoa here, but thick, sweet chocolate that makes your blood sugar soar.
In order to be able to render services to the demand, there are everywhere on the island Chocolaterias, so cafes, where you can chocolate caliente can drink. Mostly there are also Ensaimadas and other pastries. If you want to know where, read on here.
Polverones
This Christmas speciality is made of lard, sugar, flour, nuts and milk and looks like a sweet. But it crumbles when you bite into it and then, according to its name, dissolves into powder.
Our Spanish great-grandmother stores the Polverones, wrapped in plastic paper, always next to the liqueur chocolates in a bowl. That is for us parents then also a small lottery, if the great-grandchildren reach in there.
Carbon de Reyes
If Mallorcan children do not spur, they get from the kings no gifts, but charcoal. A lucrative market, thought not the charcoal burners, but the candy manufacturers, who sell black rock candy at Christmas, nicely packaged in a jute bag, to be given to all those who are thought to need a little moderation next year.
New Year’s Eve in Mallorca
The Mallorcans use the in-between days to supply all the Christmas gifts for Epiphany. Before New Year’s Eve takes place on the 28th. December still the DIa de los Santos Inocentes instead of. This is not a feast of saints of the Catholic Church, but a kind of 1. April, a day when you should not go through the day too naive, because you are fooled everywhere.
Reason to celebrate there is for the Mallorcans but also on 31. December. The Festa de l’Estandard commemorates the victory king Jaumes about the Saracens. On 31. December 1229 ended the Moorish rule over the island.
For the New Year’s Eve, Noche Vieja, grapes are bought. Best seedless. For at midnight, when the new year is rung in everywhere with the tolling of bells, these grapes are eaten. One at every stroke of the bell. This is supposed to bring luck for the coming year. The superstition dates back to 1909. The grape harvest was so abundant at that time that the surplus had to be used in a different way.
The grape dinner is a part in all Spanish families. The turn of the year is therefore always quite silent (in contrast to the noise level the rest of the time). It is difficult to talk with a full mouth.
Some Spaniards spend New Year’s Eve in public places. Most of them, however, stay with their families from dinner, which, in the Spanish manner, always takes place quite late, until the bells ring. Only after that they go to celebrate. And always in elegant clothes. Even chicer you look only to a wedding. There are no fireworks.
The festivities are usually not over until the morning, when it is already light again. Luckily, New Year’s Day is also a holiday here and everyone can relax accordingly.
Christmas in Mallorca: The Three Kings
But this is not the end of the Christmas season by a long shot. The children have until 7. January vacations and prepare their wish lists for the royal feast. Most parents take the day off and take care of the last presents.
Parade
On the evening of 5. January there are parades through the streets in many places. Finally the Reyes Magos arrived in Mallorca! In Palma they arrive by sea and with a colorful caravan through the whole city. Similar to carnival, sweets are thrown from the floats.
After the parades there is another gift-giving, actually the first real one. Before going to bed, the children put out cookies and milk. While the children sleep, the kings put the gifts in the living room.
In some places the kings come after the pageant also directly to the children’s home. With gifts that the parents dropped off in advance at the town hall.
Roscon de Reyes
The 6. January, the actual 3 Kings Day, is then spent with the family again. There is a last big meal and the Roscon de Reyes. This is a yeast wreath decorated with candied dried fruits, filled with cream. It reminds me a little of the cream puffs of my childhood, if that means anything to you. Only bigger. It is cut into small pieces and distributed to all family members.
The exciting thing: Hidden in the cream is a hard bean and a king figurine. The person who finds the king is given a crown. If you get the bean, you have to get the next year’s Roscon Buy. Larger retail chains also like to hide shopping vouchers and larger cash gifts in industrially produced yeast plaits. No wonder that really everybody celebrates the 6. January the Roscon eats. Here I have a recipe for you, if you want to bake the Roscon de Reyes at home once again.
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