1. Christmas Eve - Noche Buena - A night when the Spanish enjoy a fairly large meal.
2. Christmas Day - Navidad - Just like a normal Bank Holiday day here
3. St-Stephen's Day - Generally not celebrated along with 27th Dec.
4. 28th December - Diá de los Innocentes - Kind of Fools Day enjoyed especially by children.
5. New Year's Eve - Diá Vieja - Spanish supermarkets etc will close early. The Spanish will eat 12 grapes nearing midnight to bring luck, wealth, happiness etc
6. New Year's Day - Usually a day of celebration and visitation for families.
7. 6th January - Festival de los Reyes Magos - Festival of the Kings is the main celebration day over the whole Christmas period in Spain. All Spanish outlets will be closed. In most places the Spanish bus service will not operate. The Spanish children receive their gifts on 6th as against Christmas Day in Ireland.
If you are staying in a hotel there will be no problems with food etc. But, if you are in self catering over the Christmas - New Year - 6th January period just check locally for opening times of supermarkets. Remember, these supermarkets can close at a whim over the Christmas period also.
The days are fairly warm up to about 3.30pm when it becomes noticeably cold. The nights are very cold. So you could be in shorts during the day and wrapped up in winter woolies for the night-time. If you swim in the Mediterranean on New Year's Day you will be watched by warm coated Spaniards thinking you should be certified. Enjoy the swim.
The Christmas Buzz is not like the Christmas Buzz in Ireland. The Spaniards use the holiday period for visitation among their families. Their celebrations are usually within their homes. You would have fireworks at midnight on New Year's Eve. Remember in resorts you will have the 'Brit New Year' an hour earlier because of the time difference. So, if you alternate between Brit and Spanish pubs you could be celebrating the New Year twice.