If you are looking for a luxury event villa in Marbella for Christmas and New Year celebrations, choose one that is close to all the amenities the glitzy Costa del Sol has to offer.
Christmas is a joyous time in southern Spain, with average daytime temperatures of 18ºC and plenty of sunshine. Hire a private chef at your luxurious event villa in Marbella or dine at one of the many Spanish, English or international restaurants dotted along the coast.
Whether you are looking for a traditional turkey Christmas dinner with all the trimmings or the Spanish version, stuffed with truffles, you will find a wide choice of delicious dishes around the festive season to tempt the taste-buds.
Christmas Eve is usually celebrated with a lavish family meal, before midnight mass, including appetisers of fresh seafood, chorizo, cured sausage and local cheeses, roast lamb, suckling pig, turron (nougat) and copious amounts of cava.
Look out for the Beléns, which are elaborate nativity scenes. More than just a stable with animals and figurines, however, the Spanish beléns can be huge scenes, complete with many different houses, farms, rivers and marketplaces. The Spanish often set one of these up in their homes in the lead up to Christmas, but much larger ones are placed in shop windows or town squares.
Although gifts are sometimes given on Christmas Eve, they are more likely to be given to the children on the night of Los Reyes Magicos (The Three Kings) on January 5th. The Kings ‘arrive’ from the sea and are transported through the streets on colourful floats, accompanied by music. Hundreds of children line the streets and thousands of sweets and chocolates are thrown from the floats. Always a fun event, whatever your age, it is well worth watching the event along the main street (Ricardo Soriano) in Marbella.
The Kings are said to bring gifts to the children later at night when they are asleep (not unlike Santa Claus).
If you are lucky enough to be staying in a luxury villa on the Costa del Sol over the festive period, New Year’s Eve in Marbella is sensational. Book early if you want to eat out as all the restaurants around Orange Square (Plaza de Los Naranjos) fill up quickly. As the bells strike midnight, the Spanish tradition is to eat one grape for each bong (not as easy as it sounds). Thousands of people congregate in Orange Square and in the streets that lead off it to welcome in the New Year – many in fancy dress, drinking from bottles of cava, to party the night away.
Thankfully, January 1st, as in many other countries is a bank holiday so the previous night’s revellers can recharge their batteries.
Whatever you want to do for Christmas in Marbella, it is such a cosmopolitan and international resort that you will find a choice of attractions, restaurants and live music venues to choose from – or stay at your luxury Marbella villa and let the celebrations come to you – a great way to spend Christmas with the family in the sunshine.