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Comparing Christmas In Spain, Cuba, And Mexico

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To people in America, Christmas occurs on December 25th, a day where children wake up to find presents under the tree. In other traditions, some people go to church to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. However, even though many countries celebrate Christmas, there are different traditions and ways of celebrations. In Hispanic countries, like Spain, Cuba, Columbia and Mexico, they celebrate in a way that contrasts with ours yet are similar to things we can identify with. In the Hispanic countries mentioned above, Christmas is referred to as “La Navidad.” They celebrate this holiday during the winter time, where it is said Jesus Christ was born. Children of the countries wake up to find presents left by a special someone under the tree …show more content…

Cuba’s celebrations are greatly reduced ever since Fidel Castro outlawed it in 1969. Today, it is celebrated with not as much festivity as other countries. Columbia celebrates the Christmas season much earlier than most, starting on December 7th to have “The Day of the Candles.” They also have families gather each night for nine days to perform religious prayers called novenas. In Spain, they start the winter solstice with “Hogueras,” which lets people jump over fires to symbolize that they are going to overcome sickness that winter. Mexico is well known for their Christmas ornaments and for their three holidays, Las Posadas, La Fiesta de Reyes and Las Pastorelas. Each country differs on giving gifts to children. In Spain, children receive gifts from the Three Wise Men as recalled to into the Bible. They leave their shoes outside on January 5th and the next day, Epiphany, children get candy and cakes. Mexico also has the tradition of letting children open their Christmas presents on Epiphany, however, the night before, they write a letter to the Three Wise Men asking for what they want. In Columbia, it is baby Jesus that reads the letter of what children want. They leave the letter under the tree on December 24th and open presents the day after. Sadly, for Cuba, ever since the decline of Christmas in 1969, Christmas isn’t celebrated like other countries. However, before that, …show more content…

Some of them don’t occur on Christmas day, but happens before or after the holiday. One of them is “The Day of the Candles,” or “Dia de las Velitas.” During this Columbian holiday, everyone lights up skinny candles and sets them outside buildings to light up cities. A tradition in Spain is to stay up to feast and party until morning. In an old Spanish verse, Christmas is called the “good night” or Noche Buena, so it says that the people cannot sleep. There are also religious traditions. In Mexico, children walk around the streets dressing up as Mary and Joseph, traveling by donkey to represent the time when the two had to find lodging. This is called Las Posadas. After the children do Las Posadas, they have a piñata party just for the fun of it. Spain honors the Mass of the Rooster, when it is said a rooster was one of the first to see the birth of baby Jesus. Spain celebrates it by lighting oil lamps and going to church to go to a mass at the midnight of Christmas

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