Although many homes in Spain are now setting up Christmas Trees, there is a Spanish tradition that remains steady: Displaying a Nativity scene in your home. We call this a Belén, which is Spanish for Bethlehem. This means we happily end up with a Christmas tree and a Nativity scene in our very small living rooms. Thank goodness Christmas only lasts six weeks in Spain!*
A Belén can be as simple as a small manger scene with Baby Jesus and his parents. However, they can also display densely populated towns, fields and rivers, and even Roman fortresses. Indeed, a popular family event during the Christmas season is to visit the local town hall or church’s Belén, which are usually very large – even room-sized!
If the Belén is large enough, a fun thing parents do with their young children is progressively move the Three Wise Men closer to Baby Jesus until they arrive to the manger on January 6th.
*Christmas lights go on by the last week of November, and our Christmas ends on January 6th. This is when we exchange gifts and the Wise Men bring our children gifts. Instead of reindeer, we have camels!
