{"id":7202,"date":"2025-12-29T11:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-12-29T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ub.edu\/revistaangle\/?p=7202"},"modified":"2025-12-27T20:15:12","modified_gmt":"2025-12-27T19:15:12","slug":"between-lights-and-tables-two-ways-of-living-christmas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ub.edu\/revistaangle\/2025\/12\/29\/between-lights-and-tables-two-ways-of-living-christmas\/","title":{"rendered":"Between Lights and Tables: Two Ways of Living\u00a0 Christmas"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Customs, climate and social rituals reveal how Christmas changes across two  European countries. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In December, Vienna moves faster than usual, pushed by the constant flow of tourists  visiting its historic Christmas markets and by locals rushing to buy last-minute presents.  Christmas lights glow softly against the cold, and the city gathers around wooden stalls  where the air is filled with the unmistakable smell of Gl\u00fchwein, caramelized nuts and spices.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The streets become a shared space of warmth in contrast with the winter temperatures, and\u00a0the market is not only seen, but deeply experienced through sound and scent. This festive\u00a0 landscape is not only cultural, though also economic: according to the Vienna Chamber of\u00a0 Commerce, local visitors alone are expected to spend around 125 million euros at the city\u2019s\u00a0 Christmas markets, a figure that does not include tourists. With 14 major markets, more than\u00a0 900 stalls, and an estimated four million visits, these spaces function as both social meeting\u00a0 points and powerful economic engines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, in Barcelona, Christmas arrives under mild temperatures and a very different sensory landscape. Crowded streets, shops and family gatherings define the season,\u00a0 accompanied by familiar smells of roasted chestnuts, hot chocolate and churros drifting from\u00a0 caf\u00e9s and street vendors. Long meals stretch late into the afternoon the 25th and 26th of\u00a0 December, extending the festivity beyond the streets and into homes. Same celebration, two\u00a0 different ways of living it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Christmas store in Belvedere Palace Gardens, Vienna \/ Source: Queralt Enr\u00edquez<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In Vienna, Christmas is deeply rooted in tradition, calm, and introspection. The  Christkindlmarkt <\/em>of Rathausplatz becomes the social heart of the season, not merely a  commercial space, but a place where friends and families gather softly, almost reverently.  \u201cChristmas here is about slowing down,\u201d says Marius, 21, a local student strolling through  Vienna\u2019s city center with friends. \u201cYou meet people, but everything feels peaceful and  reflective.\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Family celebrations usually take place on Christmas Eve<\/strong>, when presents are exchanged\u00a0 after a modest dinner. Streets become empty early in the evening, reinforcing the private\u00a0 nature of the holiday. Religion still plays a visible role, with church attendance remaining\u00a0 common. Despite their growing economic importance, most visitors attend the markets for\u00a0atmosphere, social encounters, food and drink, while gift-buying plays a secondary role,\u00a0suggesting that tradition and experience still outweigh pure consumption.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Christmas lights in Passeig de Gr\u00e0cia, Barcelona \/ Source: With permission of Carla Galan<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In Barcelona, Christmas is expansive, social, and stretched over time. Celebrations last until\u00a0January 6, marked by key dates such as Sant Esteve, New Year\u2019s Eve, and Three Kings\u2019\u00a0Day. \u201cChristmas in Barcelona is noisy and emotional,\u201d says Bruno, 27, a visitor from Barcelona on a short trip to another European city. \u201cIt\u2019s about food, family, and being\u00a0 together for hours.\u201d Long meals lie at the middle of the festivities, often filling an entire\u00a0 afternoon and bringing together large family groups. \u201cI\u2019ve read that this is one of the best\u00a0Christmas markets in Europe,\u201d he adds about Vienna\u2019s Markets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, the function of public space in Barcelona differs significantly from its role in  Vienna.. Rather than large-scale Christmas markets, Barcelona hosts smaller, more intimate  ones such as the Fira de Santa Ll\u00facia, where Catalan traditions, as will be discussed later,  take center stage. During this period, the city fills with lights and bustling shopping streets,  alongside popular customs like the Ti\u00f3 de Nadal and the Caganer.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Ti\u00f3 de Nadal<\/strong>, a smiling wooden log that children feed and cover with a blanket in the\u00a0 days before Christmas, \u201cdelivers\u201d gifts when they sing traditional songs and tap it with sticks.\u00a0This playful ritual turns Christmas into a participatory performance, one rooted in family\u00a0 intimacy, humor, and the idea that joy is something collectively created, not simply received.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Caganer<\/strong>, a small figurine placed in Nativity scenes, represents a squatting character in the act of defecating. Far from being disrespectful, it is believed to bring good luck and to\u00a0 fertilize the earth symbolically, ensuring prosperity for the year to come. Its presence\u00a0 introduces an element of irony and irreverence into an otherwise sacred scene, reflecting a\u00a0cultural tendency to blend devotion with satire and to welcome imperfection as part of life.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Together, these traditions reflect a festive spirit that embraces warmth, laughter, and satire,\u00a0 standing in clear contrast to the more sober, restrained, and symbolically refined aesthetics\u00a0typically associated with Austrian Christmas.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Top: Christmas lights on Carrer Arag\u00f3, Barcelona. Source: With permission of Carla Galan
Bottom: Christmas lights on Stephenplatz, Vienna \/ Source: Queralt Enr\u00edquez<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Looking at both cities side by side also reveals how Christmas has shifted in meaning over\u00a0time. Originally rooted in Christian tradition, the celebration was conceived as a period of\u00a0 spiritual reflection, humility, and introspection, connected to the birth of Jesus and, more\u00a0 broadly, to themes of sacrifice, faith, and inner renewal. This quieter, inward-looking dimension is still partially visible in places like Vienna, where religion, modest family dinners,\u00a0and early-emptying streets preserve traces of that original spirit. However, in contemporary\u00a0 Europe, Christmas has largely been reshaped by capitalism and consumer culture. Gift giving, decoration, tourism, and shopping have moved to the center of the celebration, often\u00a0replacing reflection with consumption.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Markets, lights, and festive rituals now serve not only symbolic purposes but also economic\u00a0ones, turning Christmas into a prolonged commercial season. Barcelona exemplifies this\u00a0 transformation through its extended festivities, crowded streets, and emphasis on food, everyday life to reconnect with others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ethically created and written by human students, assessed by human experts, and some language
revision with AI tools<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Customs, climate and social rituals reveal how Christmas changes across two  European countries.  In December, Vienna moves faster than usual, pushed by the constant flow of tourists  visiting its historic Christmas markets and by locals rushing to buy last-minute presents.  Christmas lights glow softly against the cold, and the city gathers around wooden stalls  where […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":131,"featured_media":7203,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[642,645],"tags":[658,662,655,34],"class_list":["post-7202","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sectoraudiovisual","category-televisioiplataformes","tag-culturaurbana","tag-nonprofit","tag-reportatges","tag-societat"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ub.edu\/revistaangle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7202","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ub.edu\/revistaangle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ub.edu\/revistaangle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ub.edu\/revistaangle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/131"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ub.edu\/revistaangle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7202"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.ub.edu\/revistaangle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7202\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7211,"href":"https:\/\/www.ub.edu\/revistaangle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7202\/revisions\/7211"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ub.edu\/revistaangle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7203"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ub.edu\/revistaangle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7202"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ub.edu\/revistaangle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7202"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ub.edu\/revistaangle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7202"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}