Christmas Day in Spain: What's Open on the Costa del Sol

Christmas in Spain runs on a different clock. The big night is 24 December, Nochebuena, when families sit down to a long dinner and some of them walk to midnight Mass. 25 December is the quiet day after, and on the Costa del Sol it is the one day of the year when the coast is truly still: an empty beach at ten in the morning, the promenade cafés shuttered, Spanish families indoors with the leftovers, and the British bars doing a roaring trade in turkey. Then, on the 26th, everything opens again as if nothing had happened. We have spent every Christmas here for years. This is what to expect, what is open, and how to eat well through it.

The Spanish Christmas calendar

The season is longer here than in northern Europe and has more fixed points:

• 22 December. El Gordo, the Christmas lottery draw, which the whole country watches on television for three hours.
• 24 December, Nochebuena. The family dinner and, for the observant, the Misa del Gallo at midnight.
• 25 December, Navidad. National holiday. A late lunch, a walk, not much else.
• 26 December. An ordinary working day in Andalucía. San Esteban is a holiday only in Cataluña and the Balearics.
• 28 December, Santos Inocentes. Spain's April Fools' Day: pranks, fake news stories, paper figures stuck to backs.
• 31 December, Nochevieja. The twelve grapes at midnight; see our Nochevieja guide.
• 5 and 6 January, Reyes. The Three Kings parade and the real gift day; see our Three Kings Day guide.

The Christmas lights in Málaga and Estepona stay on across the whole run, until 6 January, which is why a Christmas trip here does not feel over on Boxing Day.

Nochebuena: the night that matters

Christmas Eve is a normal working day until early afternoon, then the country goes home. Shops and supermarkets close by mid-afternoon; do the last shop in the morning. Dinner starts late, nine or ten, and is built around shellfish, prawns, langoustines, clams, sometimes a whole crab, followed by a roast, in Andalucía usually lamb or suckling pig, and then the sweets: turrón in its hard Alicante and soft Jijona forms, polvorones and mantecados, the crumbly almond and lard biscuits from Estepa, in Sevilla province, and cava throughout. Families sing villancicos, badly, with tambourines. Some walk to the Misa del Gallo, the midnight Mass, which parish churches along the coast celebrate.

For a visitor, Nochebuena is the night to eat out in a Spanish restaurant, if you want to. Those that open serve a fixed-price dinner menu, book out by mid-December and close the kitchen early because the staff have their own dinners to get to. Book in November, ask for the menu, and expect shellfish.

Christmas Day: the quiet one

The morning of the 25th is the most peaceful the coast gets all year. Walk the beach early; you will share it with a few dog walkers, a jogger and, most years, a handful of people going in for a Christmas swim, which is a private eccentricity here rather than an organised event. The sea is at its coldest in February, not December, so it is less brave than it looks.

Lunch is the main event. Spanish families eat the Nochebuena leftovers and more turrón; visitors have two options. Cook: the apartment has a full kitchen, and the pescaderías and supermarkets on the 24th morning have everything, including the prawns. Or eat out at one of the British-run bars and restaurants that make Christmas lunch their biggest day of the year. There are several in Sabinillas, more at La Duquesa marina, and more again in Estepona; they take bookings from November and are full by the second week of December, so decide early. Our restaurant guide has the current local picks and where the British kitchens are.

The afternoon is the paseo, the walk, along the promenade towards La Duquesa or the other way to the river, and the evening is lights: Estepona's old town is a 15-minute drive, or Málaga's Calle Larios show if you want the full spectacle. Our Málaga Christmas lights guide has the timings; note that the light-and-music performances do not run on 24 or 31 December, so the 25th is a good night for them.

What is open and what is closed

The full mechanics of Spanish holidays and Sunday trading are in our opening hours and public holidays guide. The one thing to hold onto: 24 and 31 December are working days that close early, 25 December, 1 January and 6 January are shut, and everything in between is normal.

Belenes, lights and the things to see

Spain decorates with the belén, the nativity scene, more than with the tree. Town halls, churches and shops set up elaborate ones from early December, some with running water, working mills and a Sabinillas-sized village of figures; Estepona's and Marbella's municipal belenes are worth a detour, and the church in Sabinillas has its own. The lights are the other draw: Estepona's old town and the flower-pot streets, Marbella's old town, and Málaga's Calle Larios, which our lights guide covers in full.

Weather, and what to pack

Late December on this coast is bright by day and cool by night, and the difference between sun and shade is large. A coat for the evenings, a jumper for the balcony, and something short-sleeved for lunch in the sun is the right bag. Our month-by-month weather guide has the December and January figures; our winter sun guide covers what a longer winter stay is like.

Staying with us over Christmas

The apartment does Christmas well for one reason: the kitchen. A full oven and hob, a fridge that takes the prawns, a dining table for six and a sea-view balcony for the coffee afterwards, with air conditioning in every room that doubles as heating for the evenings. The beach is thirty seconds away for the Christmas morning walk, the British bars and the Spanish restaurants are minutes on foot, and the private garage keeps the car off the streets while the coast's Christmas visitors hunt for parking. Christmas week books early; check dates now if you want the 25th on the balcony.