Merry Christmas in Spanish: "Merry Christmas" and more holiday vocabulary in Spanish (2023)

How do you say "Christmas" in Spanish? How is Christmas celebrated in Spanish-speaking cultures?

Here are all the answers you ever wanted to know about vacations in Spanish!

In addition to Christmas Day itself, Spanish-speaking countries have other festivities during the winter. Some of them are even bigger than Christmas Day and usually winter parties last about a month. These other holidays are usually centered around the holy days from December 8th to January 6th. However, Christmas Day has become more and more popular to celebrate it,

So, not only are we going to learn about Christmas in Spanish and all the festive vocabulary you need, but we're also going to learn about what's unique.Christmas traditionsacross the Spanish-speaking world.

Good vacation! ("Good vacation!")

"Merry Christmas" in Spanish

How do you say "Merry Christmas" in Spanish?

Merry Christmas!

In English,feliztranslates as "happy" andNatalmeans "birth". It actually means "Merry Christmas" or "Happy New Year". You may be familiar with the popular song phrase:Merry Christmas.

How do you say "Happy Christmas Eve"?

In Spanish it is "Nochebuena".Goodnight, which means "good night". So you might have guessed: "Merry Christmas" is the mottomerry christmas night.

GoodnightIt is the day when most of the big celebrations in Spain take place, such as family dinners and midnight mass. Meanwhile, families often stay up all night.GoodnightCelebrate together and unwrap the gifts.

Worth knowing: The traditional Christmas flower, the poinsettia, is also calledChristmas star("The flower of good night").

"Happy New Year" in Spanish

You can wish someone a happy new year by sayingHappy New Year. This is a literal translation, withfelizmeans "happy",Againmeans "year" andnovomeans "new". In Spanish, the adjective comes after the noun it describes, so literally translated it means "Happy New Year".

But you can also wish someone a “happy new year”. you can sayMerry Christmas and a Happy New Year!wish someone "Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year" in Spanish.

Many New Year traditions welcome the New Year in prosperityHappy New Yearis often used.

For the new year you saySilvestre. It actually means "old night" because it's the last day of the old year.

There are many Hispanic superstitions about starting the New Year completely new and fresh. Many people make sure they have cleaned their homes and are wearing new clothes. So none of the old year comes with the new.

Some people believe this is important to avoid bad luck.

50+ Spanish words and phrases for the holidays

How do you say Christmas in Spanish? How do you tell someone to count to midnight and talk about their New Year's resolution?

Here are all the words you need to start talking about vacations in Spanish.

christmas vocabulary in spanish

• To want -To want
• Engel -Engel
• To decorate -To decorate
• Christmas tree -Christmas tree
• Winter -Winter
• Neve -Neve
• sleigh bells -rattles
• The gifts -gifts
• visco -visco
• reno-reno
• Santa Claus-Santa Claus
• lollipop -lollipop
• Christmas card -Christmas card
• Snowman -Snowman
• celebrate -Celebrate
• Cena -cena
• Schornstein -Schornstein
• Attorney -Attorney
• candles -candles
• elf -Elf
• adorno -adorno
• Family -Family
• daddy -Estrella
• Chimney -Heim
• chestnuts -chestnuts
• Christmas carols -Christmas carols
• Gingerbread Man / Gingerbread House –gingerbread man/gingerbread house
• Vacation -Vacation
• Hot chocolate -Hot chocolate
• Alegre -happiness
• Christmas lights -Christmas lights
• brazen -Boshaft
• Bonito -Pleasant
• good will -benevolence
• nutcracker -nutcracker
• mediaChristmas sock
• Lametta –blade
• Good news -Good news
• present paper -present paper
• December 25th -December 25th

Spanish vocabulary for the new year

• Sweet -Sweet
• Countdown -countdown
• New Year's Resolution -New Year's Resolution
• custody -protection
• confetti -confetti
• midnight -midnight
• Grape -uva
• BOM -BOM
• Fireworks -Fireworks
• midnight kiss -midnight kiss
• Clock -Clock
• Ring on New Year -ring in the new year
• calendar -calendar
• Tradition -Tradition
• January, 1st -first of January

If you want to learn more Spanish vocabulary, watch this video on how to learn Spanish online:

Spanish traditions of Christmas and winter holidays.

With all the vocabulary I've given you, you're probably ready to talk about your own traditions and festivities in Spanish. Then, let's learn about Spanish cultural traditions and unique fiestas.

Most Spanish speaking countries have silly Spanish traditions, Spanish religious holidays, and an even bigger day than Christmas. Maybe you could try a Spanish tradition this year too!

tio natal

This one might confuse tennis fans at first, but it has no connection to the legendary Rafael Nadal or his uncle and trainer Tony.

Celebrated in Catalonia,tio natalmeans "Christmas diary", but it also meansshit uncle– the “Poo Log”.

A chest is dressed with a face, wooden legs and a hat on the feast of the Immaculate Conception, on December 8th. Children need to keep the trunk warm by covering it with a blanket and feeding it small pieces of food at night.

At Christmas, the family hits the trunk with a stick and asks him to poop candy. If they follow the protocol well, they will reap their reward, usuallyNougat, a sweet nougat dessert.

The Day of the Magic Kings

Although today Christmas is a day of giving, this was not always the case. The traditional day of giving is January 6th, when the wise bring gifts, notSanta Claus.

CalledThe Day of the Magic Kings("Día de los Reyes Magos"), this holiday is based on the biblical story of the three wise men who visited Jesus shortly after his birth. When they saw him, they offered him gifts: frankincense, myrrh and gold.

There is usually a parade on the 6th of January where the three wise men parade through town throwing candy at young children. When the children return home, they take off their shoes and wait for "the kings" to shower them with gifts. If the children were bad, they might get pieces of coal instead of presents.

But today is not so bad. "Charcoal" used to be real, today it's sweet!

Day of the Holy Innocents

The Spanish version of April Fools' Day, calledDay of the Holy Innocents("Day of the Holy Innocents"), occurs a few days after Christmas, on December 28th. It's a fun day full of jokes and nonsense, as April 1st can be.

Fett

Just before Christmas, on December 22nd, the Spanish National Lottery (called,Fett, "The fat"). It's the biggest lottery draw in the world! It's a huge event and everyone is very excited about the amount of money they can win.

Christmas traditions in the Spanish-speaking world

Christianity is important to many Hispanic families. It is tradition for a family to eat largeChristmas dinneron Christmas Eve, and then go tomidnight fair, which means "cock mass" or midnight mass.

Why a rooster? It is believed that on the night Jesus was born, a rooster crowed to herald a "new day", even though it was night.

cradlesIt's the Spanish word for Bethlehem, but it means manger. While most Spanish homes have a small manger, large and large mangers are installed in cities. They are often enveloping, with farmhouses and a busy market accompanying the crib in the barn.

A bit like trick or treating and carols mixed together, children sing carols for treats. Calledask for the bonus("Ask for the Christmas present" or "Bonus"). Sometimes the kids get money and sometimes candy for singing. It's a fun tradition to spread Christmas cheer!

Fun fact: tradition sometimes reaches its limits. Indeed, it is common for teenagers in some countriesask for the bonus... at three in the morning! I'm not sure I prefer that to waking up in a house covered in toilet paper after Halloween.

New Year's Traditions in Spanish Cultures

The arrival of the New Year in Spanish-speaking cultures involves many good luck rituals.

Let's start with a famous Spanish one: when the clock strikes midnight, people eat 12 green grapes, calledThe twelve lucky grapes, and wish for all who eat.

It is important to eat all the grapes in the first minutes (or even before the first minute) of the New Year so that your wishes come true.

In some areas, lentils are eaten just after midnight or at lunch the next day. Lentils are small and round like coins, so they bring prosperity! But others prefer to have real coins at midnight, hoping that the new year will be full of riches.

As in other cultures, it is customary to drink champagne at midnight. But generally, champagne is flavored to bring some sort of good luck in the new year. For example, put strawberries in your champagne to attract love or a gold ring to attract wealth.

You want to make sure you get it out of the jar when you're done so it comes true.

Another common Spanish tradition is to wear yellow. Yellow is a lucky color in Spain and other Hispanic countries, which is why it is often worn on New Year's Eve.

But if you're looking for love, you should wear red underwear someone else gave you. Interestingly, red underwear means good luck in love in the New Year, but only if it is a gift.

And when the clock strikes midnight, stand on the right foot! This starts the year "on the right foot" - literally - so you have a good year.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Well, wish someone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year in Spanish! Also try talking about the new Spanish holidays you learned about. Do you know the "Kackscheit" or the three wise men who bring gifts instead of Santa Claus?

If you'd like to try some traditional Hispanic ways to spread Christmas cheer or bring a little happiness into your New Year, let me know on social media. Find me on Instagram (@irishpolyglot), TikTok (@irishpolyglot) and Twitter (@irishpolyglot) and tag me!

Wherever you are in the world, I hope you have one.Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

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