Merry Christmas in Spanish: phrases and traditions from Spain
Published 9 November 2026
In Spain, Christmas is not one day but a whole season. It starts with the Christmas lottery on 22 December and only ends on 6 January, when the Three Kings bring the presents. Along the way there are two big family meals, a night of eating grapes at midnight and a day of pranks. Here is what people say at each step, so you can join in.
How to say Merry Christmas
¡Feliz Navidad!
Merry Christmas!
The classic. Navidad is Christmas; in the plural, las Navidades, it means the whole holiday season.
¡Felices fiestas!
Happy holidays!
Very common in shop windows, at work and in messages to people you don't know well.
¡Feliz Navidad y próspero Año Nuevo!
Merry Christmas and a happy New Year!
The Christmas card version. Próspero means prosperous.
Que paséis unas felices fiestas.
Have a lovely Christmas, all of you.
Paséis is the vosotros form used in Spain. To one person: que pases unas felices fiestas.
¡Igualmente!
You too!
The easiest reply to any of these wishes. It works for every greeting in this article.
The Spanish Christmas calendar
- 22 December, El Gordo: the Christmas lottery draw, sung live on TV by schoolchildren all morning.
- 24 December, Nochebuena: Christmas Eve and the big family dinner.
- 25 December, Navidad: Christmas Day, usually a long family lunch.
- 28 December, Día de los Santos Inocentes: the day of pranks, like April Fools' Day.
- 31 December, Nochevieja: New Year's Eve, with twelve grapes at midnight.
- 1 January, Año Nuevo: New Year's Day, a quiet day after a late night.
- 5 January, Cabalgata de Reyes: the Three Kings' parade, in the evening.
- 6 January, Reyes: the day the Three Kings bring the presents.
El Gordo, the Christmas lottery
Weeks before Christmas, people queue to buy a décimo (a tenth of a lottery ticket) and share numbers with family, friends and colleagues. On 22 December the whole country follows the draw.
¿Has comprado lotería?
Have you bought a lottery ticket?
A typical December question at work or at the bar.
¡Que te toque!
I hope you win!
Literally: may it fall to you. Say it to anyone holding a ticket.
Me ha tocado el reintegro.
I got my money back.
The reintegro is the smallest prize: you win back what you paid for the ticket. Usually said with a shrug.
Nochebuena and Christmas Day
The main Christmas meal in Spain is the dinner on 24 December, la cena de Nochebuena. On the 25th there is often a second big family lunch. Around the meals, the table fills up with turrón (nougat), polvorones and mantecados (crumbly almond shortbread) and mazapán (marzipan).
¿Dónde cenáis en Nochebuena?
Where are you having Christmas Eve dinner?
The question of December. The usual answer: en casa de mis padres, at my parents' place.
¿Con quién pasas la Navidad?
Who are you spending Christmas with?
¿Quieres un poco de turrón?
Would you like some turrón?
Turrón duro is the hard kind with whole almonds, turrón blando the soft kind. Everyone has a favourite.
Nochevieja and the twelve grapes
On New Year's Eve, Spain eats twelve grapes at midnight, one for each chime of the clock, for luck in each month of the new year. Most people watch the chimes live on TV from the clock on Madrid's Puerta del Sol. Supermarkets even sell grapes already peeled and seedless, in small tins, to make it easier.
¿Qué haces en Nochevieja?
What are you doing on New Year's Eve?
¿Tienes las uvas preparadas?
Have you got your grapes ready?
Asked in the last minutes before midnight. Las campanadas are the chimes.
¡Feliz Año Nuevo!
Happy New Year!
After midnight most people simply say ¡Feliz año!
¡Salud!
Cheers!
The toast once the grapes are gone, usually with a glass of cava.
Eat fast
The chimes come about three seconds apart, so twelve grapes go faster than you think. Before the real chimes there are four double chimes called los cuartos: don't start eating yet. Some people also wear red underwear on Nochevieja for luck in the new year.
28 December: Día de los Santos Inocentes
On 28 December, Spaniards play pranks on each other, called inocentadas, and newspapers and TV slip a fake story into the news. Fall for one and you will hear:
¡Inocente, inocente!
Gotcha!
Literally: innocent! It is what you shout once someone believes your joke.
The Three Kings
In Spain, the presents traditionally come from los Reyes Magos, the Three Kings, during the night of 5 to 6 January. On the evening of the 5th, towns hold a cabalgata, a parade where the Kings throw sweets to the crowd. Children leave their shoes out for the presents. Many families now also do Papá Noel on 25 December, so children get presents twice.
¿Qué te han traído los Reyes?
What did the Three Kings bring you?
What everyone asks children (and adults) on 6 January.
Este año te van a traer carbón.
This year you're getting coal.
A joke for anyone who hasn't been good. Shops even sell carbón dulce, sweet coal made of sugar.
¿A quién le ha tocado el haba?
Who got the bean?
On 6 January people eat roscón de Reyes, a ring-shaped cake with a small figure and a dried bean hidden inside. Find the figure and you wear the paper crown; find the bean and, by tradition, you pay for the roscón.
Different regions, different traditions
In Catalonia, children look after the Tió de Nadal, a little log with a face, and at Christmas they tap it with sticks until it “poops” sweets and small presents. In the Basque Country and Navarre, presents come from Olentzero, a charcoal maker who comes down from the mountains on Christmas Eve.
Questions people ask
How do you say Merry Christmas in Spanish?
¡Feliz Navidad! For the whole season, ¡Felices fiestas! is just as common. To include the New Year: ¡Feliz Navidad y próspero Año Nuevo!
How do you reply to Feliz Navidad?
Say ¡Igualmente! (you too) or ¡Feliz Navidad a ti también! (merry Christmas to you too).
Do Spaniards celebrate Christmas on the 24th or the 25th?
Both. The big dinner is on the evening of the 24th, Nochebuena, and the 25th is a family lunch. The traditional day for presents is 6 January, although many families now give presents on the 25th as well.
What do you say at midnight on New Year's Eve?
¡Feliz año! or ¡Feliz Año Nuevo!, usually right after the twelfth grape, followed by ¡Salud! and a glass of cava.
Visiting family or friends over the holidays? Our guide to how Spaniards really say hello helps at the door, and if the celebration moves to a bar, ordering in a Spanish bar has you covered.