Well, I say Happy Holidays, but in reality we don’t get much of one this year in Spain….. The big celebration in this country is usually reserved for the evening of 24th, albeit from a business point of view, this is actually a normal working day (except that in 2011 the 24th falls on a Saturday). The tradition is that most people would finish work, rush home, and prepare the big family dinner. The only actually ‘festivo’ in Spain (or bank holiday as we would say in England), is on Christmas Day itself, when under normal circumstances businesses would be closed – except again this year, as Christmas falls on a Sunday, this does not apply.

If this happened in the UK, then there would automatically be a lieu day when businesses would close on the next available working day (this year it would be Monday). Spain does not follow this practice, which means that our bodega closes on Friday 23rd and re-opens on Monday 26th – pretty much business as usual! I have to say that it’s quite rare that people miss out on holidays in this country as I believe that the Spanish quota of public holidays (local, provincial and national) is actually much higher than most other countries in Europe.

Anyway, enough of that. All that remains is for Angela and I to wish all our friends, customers and blog readers a very Merry Christmas and a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New Year.

Well, I say Happy Holidays, but in reality we don’t get much of one this year in Spain….. The big celebration in this country is usually reserved for the evening of 24th, albeit from a business point of view, this is actually a normal working day (except that in 2011 the 24th falls on a Saturday). The tradition is that most people would finish work, rush home, and prepare the big family dinner. The only actually ‘festivo’ in Spain (or bank holiday as we would say in England), is on Christmas Day itself, when under normal circumstances businesses would be closed – except again this year, as Christmas falls on a Sunday, this does not apply.

If this happened in the UK, then there would automatically be a lieu day when businesses would close on the next available working day (this year it would be Monday). Spain does not follow this practice, which means that our bodega closes on Friday 23rd and re-opens on Monday 26th – pretty much business as usual! I have to say that it’s quite rare that people miss out on holidays in this country as I believe that the Spanish quota of public holidays (local, provincial and national) is actually much higher than most other countries in Europe.

Anyway, enough of that. All that remains is for Angela and I to wish all our friends, customers and blog readers a very Merry Christmas and a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New Year.