Made in Spain

26. Christmas In Madrid: Lights, Traditions, And Travel Tips

• Made in Spain • Season 5 • Episode 2

Share episode

Send us a text

Planning a girls’ trip or a festive getaway and want Spain to feel effortless, joyful, and great value? We kick off with a listener question and map out a smart Madrid hub strategy: take fast trains, book early for the lowest fares, and choose destinations that deliver big experiences without long drives. Alicante shines in May with easy rail links and beach weather, Sevilla brings Andalusian heart in two days, and the Basque coast rewards food lovers and sea seekers. We share where to save, where to spend, and how to walk away with memories that outlast price tags.

From there we slip into December and watch Madrid light up. The city invests in energy-efficient displays, lively markets, and neighbourhood scenes that turn a night walk into an event. We talk belenes, chestnuts roasted on street corners, and the social rhythm that keeps you outdoors and together. The Spanish holiday calendar runs long: Nochebuena on the 24th, a relaxed lunch on the 25th, grapes for luck at midnight on New Year’s, then the Cabalgata and gifts on Three Kings. Expect hot chocolate with Roscon de Reyes, busy restaurants, and a festive mood that feels both sacred and playful.

We also unpack El Gordo, the Christmas lottery that’s more community ritual than mega-jackpot, and highlight how Madrid handles big stages—from an 80,000-strong NFL game at the Bernabéu to arena shows that start on time and keep crowds safe. For splurges, think med-spas, well-run beach clubs on the mainland coast, and Spanish-made fashion or artisan jewelry. For savings, book trains early and take advantage of seasonal sales. And if Zara or Mango is on your list, the prices here often beat what you pay abroad for the same pieces.

If you enjoyed the stories and tips, tap follow, share this with a friend planning Spain, and leave a quick review telling us where you’d base your own trip. Your ideas and questions shape what we explore next. 

SPEAKER_01:

This episode of the Made in Spain podcast is powered by Goco Energy. Clean natural energy for life at the speed of Go.

SPEAKER_00:

Welcome to Made in Spain. I'm your co-host, Nalini Sharma, along with my hostess with the most is. Hi everyone, Laura Senior Garcia here. And today we are celebrating our one-year anniversary as well as Christmas in Madrid. So this is, I mean, first of all, super exciting. We've had a really interesting year, both professionally and personally. So we are here and we're super excited to, you know, share this episode with you, share our memories and our favorite things from the last, you know, 12 months, and uh, you know, share a little bit about Christmas in Madrid. But before we get to all of that, Laura, we've had a viewer or a listener email. So can I read it to you? Yeah, 100%. All right, here we go. Hi, ladies. Love listening to your adventures. My friends and I are planning a girls' trip next year in May. We are flying into Madrid and renting an Airbnb as our base. We would like to plan a few days by train. What city is not too far away and is a must-see. We'd also like to figure out what we can do in a budget and what we can splurge on. Thanks in advance and keep traveling. And that's from Anna in Seattle. So, first of all, super excited that we have, you know, people engaging with us and sending us their questions. What's your advice for Anna?

SPEAKER_01:

So, Anna, thank you so much for the question. And I have to say that the level of engagement, not just that we're getting by email, but also that we're getting on socials. And we'll talk more a little bit about that later, has been fantastic. So super grateful for our listeners. So for Anna, first of all, I think that great choice to stay in Madrid as the hub, you could say, and travel out of there. I would suggest from a city to visit. And I think we know maybe we're a little bit biased, but I would love your take on it as well, Nalini. I think Alicante is a great option, particularly in May. Uh, you know, it's nice weather. Perfect weather. Exactly. It's the coast, it's an easy, easy train ride from Madrid. Your price for your train ticket can range between nine euros and a hundred. Right. So the one thing I would suggest what to do on a budget or what to kind of save on a little bit during your travel here. Personally, I think it's the travel part. So the trains, uh, you know, rental cars or flights, make sure you get them with plenty of time in advance and that you look for the offers because really you're going to get some really great deals. Versus if you wait till last minute, you could pay up to 10 times the price.

SPEAKER_00:

I mean, we've gone to Madrid from here, Alicante, for seven euro.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes, exactly. And sometimes there are offers. Again, Black Friday is something that is now everywhere. It was here as well. And Black Friday had amazing offers for travel. So something to watch out for. As well as the sales that happen here right after January, there'll be a lot of travel offers right after the beginning of January. So around the 7 or the 8th of January, is that they'll start these sales. So Alicante would be one option. Another option, kind of going more for classic Andalucía, would be Seville. Uh, as you know, we were there for just a flash, but what a beautiful space.

SPEAKER_00:

Sorry, can I ask you a question? You say it's Seville. Is it not Sevilla? Oh, it's Sevilla. Yeah, okay. Because I've say it as Sevilla all the time. And then you but I noticed you say Seville.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, I think that's just my kind of British upbringing. In English, it's Seville, but in Spanish it's tevilla.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. I always I've always said it because the double L, but I've always pronounced it like that. And I thought, is this an exception to the rule where it's actually called Seville? No, no, no.

SPEAKER_01:

It's I I think that's how like you say Seville in kind of British English. It's Seville, but it's Sevilla. Sevilla. Okay. Yes. Yes, I got it right. And then I would say, you know, for Anna, if she's flying all the way from Seattle with her friends, you know, I think it you want to go south at least once. You have to. Yeah, you kind of experience the real Spain. I always say this, and then again, it's like to me, it's like when you go into some of the southern areas of the country, you experience truly the real Spain. Because even though there is a lot of tourism, uh, you still, you know, I don't think it's lost its essence or people have lost the essence of what you know it truly means to be from there.

SPEAKER_00:

No, and I think when you go to some of the towns in the south, they're very passionate about their food, their culture, and everything's is quite accessible. Totally.

SPEAKER_01:

So we said somewhere on the coast, then Sevilla South, and then another city that I think is very close to our hearts is Bilbao or San Sebastian, you know, basically north, the vast country, or uh Galicia. Again, all of these places you can go to by train, uh direct train, and in most cases bullet train, or you can take a cheap airline like Welling, or you know, you can take like a cheap flight uh if you'd rather do that. It is gonna cut your timing of travel. I'm not a big fan of like driving for long time. No, it's far. It's far.

SPEAKER_00:

Spain is a big country, and I mean you don't want to be driving for five is five or six hours if you're on a a short trip. So um, yeah, I would totally say those are perfect, not they're not day trips, but you can do it in two days. Yeah, they're like weekends, yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

You know, like a two-day actually, not even the weekend, like any any day of the week. So we talked about a couple of the budget. What do you think Nalini would be from your perspective something worth splurging on?

SPEAKER_00:

Um, we're gonna talk a little uh more in depth about this, but if you want to splurge on something, maybe some beauty treatments, if you you're you know, you're on a girls' trip, uh do your research, um, look for you know the reputable clinics, but there's so many cutting-edge beauty treatments here that are not invasive. Like we're not talking about surgery, but you know surgery, but you know, that's a maybe a different kind of trip. But definitely I would look into you know that you could just do something at a day spa or a um a med spa because they're so uh prevalent here. They're everywhere you can get something done. Um, a little glow-up, if you will. And I would also say if you're gonna splurge on something, maybe um a beach club or a day club where you can go and just have a nice pool. You're you will not spend anywhere near what you would spend at a beach club, let's say in Mallorca or Ibiza, not even close.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. So unless you're really planning to make a dent in your bank account during the trip, I would I would really kind of try to avoid, you know, uh Ibiza and so again, it's don't get me wrong, I I know the ambience and all of that's what you're paying for, and the who's who and all that, but I will never forget being at the speech club in Ibiza and someone next to me ordering a bottle of champagne. And I'm not gonna say which champagne it was, but it was a pretty, let's say famous brand, but not that super high-end. And they were paying 6,000 euros for the bottle, and I was like, oh my god, that's like 200 at the supermarket. Like, that is a very high percentage increase. So for me, I'm all about splurging on where it feels like you're getting the best bank for your buck instead of like where it feels like it's a waste.

SPEAKER_00:

And I will say this, and I okay, I believe this to be true. Correct me if I'm wrong. So you will let's say you go to a beach club, a super exclusive beach club. Um, the beach itself is public. Oh, yeah. You can't there Spain has a law, if I'm not mistaken, that all beaches are open to the public.

SPEAKER_01:

I don't yeah, I don't think you can have a private beach here now that you say that.

SPEAKER_00:

So if you are I've gone to, you know, some very high-end beach clubs when we lived in Mallorca. And did you go to that Nikki beach? That's what I'm talking about. That's a beach I'm talking about the beach club I'm talking about, which is great. Listen, it's a great afternoon experience. It is um, you know, it's a different price point. However, when you you are in the beach club, there is no private beach. It's everybody who's on the beach with their cooler and grandma and grandpa and kids running and the frisbee and the ball. So you can leave the beach club and go to the beach, but you could just go to the beach. Yeah, exactly. Like unless you want to be in Nikki Beach or whatever. So just keep that in mind that it's a little bit different here. Yes, they really do pride themselves on making things accessible for everybody. So the beach should not be owned by just a hotel or a you know, a restaurant group. So go to if you want to splurge, I would say this is a good area to do it in, the Alicante area. I'm not sure.

SPEAKER_01:

There's some new beach clubs that have opened that are really, really cool. And to your point, you're not paying, you know, here you're not paying five or six hundred euros for a sunbed, which is what you do pay in some of these other places without anything included. No, just for the luxury of being on a sunbed. Yeah, you could maybe get it for a hundred euro and then you can go buy your own sun bed, just drag it down to the beach and then leave it there.

unknown:

Yes.

SPEAKER_00:

So I would definitely say those are uh, you know, a splurge. And if you're gonna do some shopping, I would encourage um anybody to look into a made in Spain brand, whether it's a shoes, set of shoes, clothes, um, even little, you know, artisanal jewelry that you will get at a fraction of the price, and it's it is unique as well. So that would be my you know splurge, I would say. I mean, you can buy high-end name brands in any city almost in the world.

SPEAKER_01:

Uh I will say though that even though the clothes are not made in Spain, the brand is Zara is way cheaper here than anywhere else. It is less expensive. So when you look at clothes from Zara here, let's say a blazer, the same blazer in the US and Singapore, it can cost up to three times more. And when we're looking at Zara here, you know, it is very, very affordable. Also mango. Yes, mango and Zara both. So if you are someone that likes to shop at Zara, but sometimes you know you feel it's a little bit, you know, pricey in um your home country, I would say definitely check it out because it is the same exact piece of clothing. And because the way that they were established in the market here very early on, they can't raise the prices that much because it's no, you know, no, there would be a rebellion. Exactly.

SPEAKER_00:

It's like, no, Miza. There would be a rebellion. All right. So I hope uh Anna that answers. I I think we did really well that we gave her a lot of information. Hopefully, Anna likes it. And of course, we encourage your opinions, your questions, your advice, any information, please email us at Ola at madeinspainpodcast.com. Message us on all of our socials, uh, made in Spain, uh, the Made in Spain podcast on TikTok and Instagram. So there, those are our contact details. And now we're gonna get into the episode. We're talking about Christmas in Madrid. What do you think people don't know about Christmas in Madrid, first of all?

SPEAKER_01:

I think there's first of all, I think if you haven't experienced Christmas in Madrid, so many people think of like, you know, London or Paris or, you know, like Germany, the Christmas market. Yeah. I don't think Spain is like the first thing that oh, you know, no way. I don't think Spain is the first thing that pops into people's minds outside of here when they think Christmas. You know, actually I just met someone a couple weeks ago uh that was telling me that you know they were going to Austria and all these places to visit the Christmas market. So I don't think this is on a lot of people's radar as a Christmas destination, but I think it's a beautiful Christmas destination.

SPEAKER_00:

I think it's probably one of the best Christmas destinations. I haven't been, obviously, to all of them throughout Europe. I've been to a few. The only thing that you're missing is snow, if that's what you're really into. But I mean, outside of that, it is a spectacular time to come to Madrid uh in December. I love it. I love it. I love everything about it. So just a few little details. Um, the reason that they've uh they sort of started Christmas in Madrid with all the lights, the the town or the city of Madrid, the politicians figured, listen, this is gonna bring us money. We're gonna do these lights, they're gonna be energy efficient, and it's going to boost tourism. And it's not just the outside tourism, it's also internally. So people will come from different cities, go for a day trip. The cafes are busy, the restaurants are busy, the hotels are busy. The shopping area is like busting. The shopping area, you've got really beautiful Christmas markets, and it's also a psychological boost for the the city itself, the capital city, that they take pride in this. You know, this is your home. And yeah, look how beautiful it is. So you have uh they approximately about 130 cherry trees illuminated. You have over 7,000 light garlands, which adds up to about 160 kilometers of light garlands throughout the city, 13 giant Christmas trees, and you also have each neighborhood, they have their own kind of Christmas theme, feel, yeah, the whole vibe. That's so cool.

SPEAKER_01:

It's really pretty. What day do they do do because I remember we talked about this? Isn't there a specific day that all the lights kind of come on?

SPEAKER_00:

They um, I think it comes on the last weekend of or yeah. Basically, right when um American Thanksgiving falls.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay.

SPEAKER_00:

So that's kind of weekend that that's when they put the lights uh officially, you know, throw the lights on. So the first time I saw Madrid at Christmas, it was just we were flying back from Canada and we had to spend a night there. And I did not expect anything at all. Because if anybody lives here, you know that it's a very different Christmas vibe than what you have in other places in the world. It's far less Santa Claus easy.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh, yeah. You know what I mean? Santa's made it big time here now. Now, but but not even that, like when I was growing up, it it was like, okay, yeah, Santa Claus, you know. It's a yeah, okay, like you know, and that's one thing that Spanish people I think were really good at is we'll sign up for any party. So, you know, it's like okay, Santa, yeah, that sounds good as well. Like we can include him, you know. But it was l much less prevalent before because it did have much more of a religious undertone than than you know it currently does. And also, there's I think the other thing as well that's a bit different about Christmas here is just it's a lot of uh going out, you know. It's a lot of going out, it's not a lot of being out. Yeah, of course. That mental picture you have of like an American Thanksgiving or where everybody's in the house. Like, yeah, it's a lot of let's get let's go out, let's go for the chocolate conchurros or whatever.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, the when we flew back and we were going to the hotel driving through the city, that was the first time I saw Madrid at Christmas. And it was actually just I think January 2nd, let's say. But I was so blown away. I had no idea it was that pretty. And I've talked to people here who've lived here for 30 years and they've never gone to see the lights at Christmas, which I can't even believe because it's so pretty.

SPEAKER_01:

So I will say it is very popular. Yeah. So I if you are planning on doing it and you are going to try and stay the night, which I think we would recommend because it is a beautiful, you know, experience, book it with time in advance.

SPEAKER_00:

Because yeah, the hotels, if you book obviously in advance, I mean, even though it is the month of December or even late November, it's quite reasonable.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, no, it's uh you can find a big range of options. So I notice here in our research that the Christmas kind of magic in Madrid brings around six million euros extra. I think that is is way more than that. I think that's a very kind of underestimated number because just the shopping alone.

SPEAKER_00:

The shopping, every restaurant's full, you need to make reservations. But it's I would say it's just such an accessible thing to do because you can go to a Christmas market. Most of the plazas throughout the city, they have beautiful Christmas markets or chestnuts. We'll talk about that in a second. But it's also really nice just to be outside with your family and walk around or a date, or it's just I don't know.

SPEAKER_01:

It's a kind of cute romantic date idea of going to like a Christmas market in Madrid. So, question When you first went to Madrid for Christmas, did you notice the Belenes? The, you know, like the when they do the um representation of the little baby Jesus being born in Did you see that? What what what was your kind of thoughts and impression of that?

SPEAKER_00:

I thought it was really nice because there's still a religious, you know, here it is held on to. So they celebrate the fact that it's the birth of Christ. It's not just Santa Claus coming down the chimney with presents, which is sort of how we grew up. I'll never forget, I went years and years ago to a Christmas um day, you know, celebration at a church. I had gone with a family that I knew, and everybody was so solemn. And I thought, not here, not here in Toronto, but I just thought it was very funny that people were so serious. But I thought, listen, this is your this is Christ's birthday. It should be happier. So I think that the the tradition with also the magic of it and the fun of it, it's nice that there's a balance here. There's a balance. You get both. You can be very religious and very observant of it, but you can also have, you know, the the Santa Claus side of it if you want.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, it it is interesting, and we won't get into it in this episode. But the historical accuracy of Jesus actually being born in December is very questionable, but we're not going to go into that. Let's not the church decided that was a good time, you know. So let's just stick with it.

SPEAKER_00:

Let's just stick with it. But yeah. And just quickly, I want to talk about chestnuts, yeah, the famous Christmas song. You know, chestnuts roasting on an open fire. Gastañas. So that's how we call them here in Spain.

SPEAKER_01:

But it's a Spanish food. So I never even thought about it as a specifically a Spanish food. But it is though. But if here, if you think the moment you say Christmas market to me, the mental picture that comes in my head is someone roasting chestnuts over an open fire. It's really the Christmas song.

SPEAKER_00:

If you go, if you walk around Madrid, you're going to see the Christmas song. Chestnuts are roasting on an open fire. Yeah. And you buy your little bag and you just peel them and you eat them. But Spain. I'm craving them now. Oh, really? When I I go back the next time I'm going to try them. But Spain is the second largest producer of chestnuts in the world next to China. It was propagated by the Romans, and it was considered before mass agriculture and farming and you know different types of food and breads and wheats to be the poor person's carbohydrate because there's 60, apparently 60% carbs. They would grow wild, they would feed it to soldiers. So when you think through medieval times, this has had a very long history in Europe. I think it's maybe a little bit forgotten. Yes. You know?

SPEAKER_01:

But at the same time. I like you don't see kids eating chestnuts. Actually, I made some last year in the air fryer. Oh, and were they good? Yeah, they were good. Just put a little cross and then they can pop opo. It's really good like in the air fryer. It's actually quite yeah, because it's not that easy to start like an open fire in your house to kind of, you know, do chestnuts unless you have like a but people do put them if you have like a chimney, you know, a fireplace. They do put them there.

SPEAKER_00:

So yeah, that was just my other little thing about Christmas. Yeah. Christmas in Madrid. Okay, so now we're gonna talk a little bit. You're gonna lead us through this. Um, the Christmas traditions here in Spain.

SPEAKER_01:

Because they are a little bit different. They are a little bit different. The dates are a bit different. Okay. And we have a much longer Christmas. Yes. So when everybody's already done, dusted, trees out of the way, it's on still for quite a while here. Spain's still going. Yeah, Spain's still going. We can drag it out for another week. So, and I will say, as in most Christmas traditions around the world, a lot of it is centered around family, yes, food, and drinking. I mean, there's a whole lot of that. So when you get to, you know, the end of it, most people that you meet around the 6th of January are like, I'm on a diet. Yeah. Everybody's like, I can't eat anymore. Because every house you go to, they want you to eat, they want you to have the turrones and mataban, all these different things. And it's kind of like an offense almost to like not eat. So most people put on an average of five kilos during the Christmas period. It's a lot. That's not a lot. So yeah, I know. Nothing is like, I need to leave. Okay. So it starts with uh December 24th, okay, which is actually here for a lot of people, a more significant or important day than the 25th. Okay. And I think that's surprising to some people because you know the 25th is Christmas and it's kind of like a big deal. But the 24th is supposedly the night that Jesus Christ was born. Okay. Noche buena. And that's when you have the first family kind of gathering for Christmas. So that's the 24th. Then you've got December 25th is usually Christmas Day lunch. Never dinner, it's usually lunch. What is interesting is most families, I think, use this for like, okay, on the 24th we'll go to your parents, on the 25th, we'll go to my parents. You know, it's like this kind of trade-off negotiation that happens. Where do you do the 24th and where do you do the 25th? And as you can imagine, the 24th is a huge meal. Yes. It goes on very late, and you're getting together the following day to do the same thing over again at lunchtime. Which pause and repeat. Yeah. It's always fascinating to me how that goes, you know. And then on the 31st, obviously, it's New Year's. But again, New Year's here, even though it's New Year's, it's still Christmas. I don't know how to describe it because it is in the middle of the initial Christmas celebrations on the 24th and the 25th. And the one on the 5th, which is Víspera de Reyes, and the Cabalgata, which is when you do the parade. The Three Kings parade. Three Kings. And supposedly on the 6th, which is marked as the last day of Christmas, that's the Three Kings Day, right. When the kids actually get their presents. So present-wise, kids get presents on the 25th, yes, and on the 6th. Right.

SPEAKER_00:

So basically two times. And I just want to ask you about New Year's Eve, because I think here it's celebrated a little bit differently in that um The party starts at 12. The party actually starts at 12, which is when in the other side of the world where I'm from, the party ends basically at 12. And then you've got the it doesn't end at 12, but for motive, it's it starts to like you're winding. By one. No. We've gone out here. I went out one year with my husband, not to even do anything crazy, but we just said, okay, we'll go out. We went out at seven, which is late for me. Yeah. That's actually late in my world to leave my house at 7 p.m. Tough. We on New Year's Eve. We went out, we're dressed, and we thought, oh, we'll have, you know, a little cocktail here. We went to the little casino down the road. And the woman looks at us. There's nobody in there. Oh no. I thought there would be people in there. I thought it's New Year's Eve. There's nobody in there. It's the two of us. And she looks at us and she says, we have to close up at eight. And I thought, there is no place I've ever been in this country that they close at eight. She's like, no. She said, we close at eight because we have to go home and do dinner. Dinner. And then we celebrate with our families. We have to do the grapes at midnight. And then we come back around 12:30. She's like, come back at 12:30, and there'll be a hundred people in here. Like, uh, lady, I'm out at 7:20. Once I get home, this is coming off, and I'm in my pajamas. I am not coming out at 12:30.

SPEAKER_01:

So here it's very different. Oh, it's very different. And it's so New Year's is uh you would be a little bit like shunned upon from a family standpoint if you're not staying up at least with your family to your family. Right. Uh welcome to New Year. The WhatsApp chats go crazy at like 12.05 with everybody. Congratulations. People you haven't heard of all year will write to you at like 12.01, 12.03, you know, congratulating you on the new year. And there's all kinds of little weird traditions. Like you're supposed to be wearing gold. Oh, really? You're supposed to be wearing red underwear. Oh, okay. So red underwear sales like sore before New Year's. Wow, this explains a lot. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Don't you like red underwear everywhere? It's because people are wearing them at New Year's. I've just had like a moment here because every time I go to the shopping plaza, I think, wow, people are really into underwear here.

SPEAKER_01:

Like it's like red underwear. And like a gold something. Gold. Okay. And then the for the men? Yeah. Who have to wear red underwear? Yeah. Oh. So like that's usually like the boxer pants is of red everywhere. It's for the whole thing. Yes, everything. Interesting. I've learned well, I learned something today. Yeah. And then the grapes, of course, uh, which are just uh interesting. Again, not gonna get into the debate of where this exactly comes from. There are a lot of theories that this was a way of selling grapes that were going bad around this time of the year, and someone had this like invented moment that, okay, you know, one grape for every like ding ding, you know, on the But that's like as it counts down to midnight. Yes.

SPEAKER_00:

So it's the last 12 seconds. It's the last 12 seconds.

SPEAKER_01:

Boom, boom. Right, yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

So I was asking, I think I've asked you about this before. Are you expected to eat all 12 of them?

SPEAKER_01:

All 12 at the same time. And most people, so you're sitting there like, you know, like a hamster with your like, you know, supposedly it's put them all in your mouth. Because I mean, there's no way you can chew it and swallow it that fast. Have you done this? Yeah, I've done it most years. It's that for us, it's bad luck. Like most people, if you're a little bit superstitious, it's bad luck. Wow. And if you're like if you can't do the grapes, like you invent something to do it with, like, you know, smarties or raisins. Yeah. But but the grapes, and that's also why the grapes without the seeds are a must because you're kind or before before there was grapes without seeds, yeah. I remember seeing my mom and my grandma sitting there peeling everybody's grapes and taking out the seeds. Oh. So they would have them ready in a glass for midline. It's bad luck if you don't have them for you know, people who believe in that. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

And do you just want to talk a little bit about the three kings to explain? So basically, the three kings, they're the three wise men in the story of the birth of Jesus.

SPEAKER_01:

That's uh Melchor, Gashbar, and Baltashar. Okay. And in the parade that they do on the 5th, they bring presents and candy to the kids, and there's like camels, real camels, and you know, animals that walk in this parade. Uh, in the last few years, again, there's been a lot more attention on ensuring that, you know, animal welfare, etc., so they are well taken care of and and all of that. But it is kind of funny because sometimes here people are not as aware of certain things as in other parts of the world. And I remember the first time you told me that you'd seen someone on TV or something and they had like their face painted black. Because normally I think it's uh Baltashar would be like the black king. Right. Uh, because again, supposedly this story is taking place in Africa, yeah, etc. So anyway, but here people didn't a lot of people didn't think twice of like why that would just be not appropriate that someone would just kind of paint their face black. And lately, I think they're they have been trying, you know, to be more like um diversity aware. I think so.

SPEAKER_00:

Maybe not in my local village, but we'll see. I'll look at it.

SPEAKER_01:

In Madrid in Madrid, I would say if you're going to see the parade there, it is very likely actually gonna be someone who is you know black who is doing that role instead of someone with their face painted black, you know.

SPEAKER_00:

But it attracts thousands thousands of people. Thousands of people there.

SPEAKER_01:

Thousands of people watch out for the sweets though, because when they're throwing like candy and stuff, it is serious. Like my my grandma, rest in peace, she had like a moment of pure rage because yeah, she got hit by a suede on her head and it was like a proper hard candy. Oh my god. And she was swearing in front of you know, like all these kids and everyone was looking at us, and she was swearing at the one of the guys who was doing the three kings. I was like, oh my god, it's so important. Like we remember that forever, but yeah, it's it's a lovely tradition. I really recommend it for anyone that hasn't experienced it. And it's again, if you like Christmas, it's like extending Christmas by a lot. Right. And then just the sweets, the popular one at Christmas is turron, matapan, polvorones, right, uh, which you know, most people will have always have in their house with this ready to welcome you. Yeah, it's sold everywhere, it's sold everywhere. So, and oh, they also the cake, the um Oh yeah, the roscon. Yeah, so that's a bit of an interesting one. So that is like, you know, by the time you get to the Roscon, that's when you start hearing people say, Oh, you know, I'm not doing the Roscon this year, so like I need to lose some weight. Because again, that's you've had all this food at this point. But that's really the last of the last.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, the last of the last.

SPEAKER_01:

If you see that out, you know, okay, we're done. We're done. Yeah, it's like this basically looks like a huge donut, you could say. That's what it looks like. Yeah. And it's a nice soft, um it's like a brioche almost. It is very much like a brioche if it's done properly, because if not, sometimes they can get hard and dry. Most of them these days are split down the middle and they put either chocolate cream or whipped uh cream. And then they have what do you call those things like confit, like you know, the little uh candied cherries. Yes, candied cherries or candied fruit on the top. And then there's some weird traditions and superstitions as well, where you cut the rosh corn, and if you get this, there's like little toys inside. Right. Which again, if you think about it, it's a smartest idea, you know, like a choking hazard. But if you get like one particular piece, you have to pay for the rosh corn. If you get another piece, it means that you're gonna have good luck the whole year. So it's a very cool. It is a nice thing, and you usually have it with hot chocolate. Yeah. So roscon de reyes, that's a sweet on sweet. Why not?

SPEAKER_00:

All right, champagne. Yeah. Should we move on to our slice of life?

SPEAKER_01:

Yes, slice of life. So before we dive into our slice of life, quick shout out to our amazing partner, Goco Energy. You have to try this.

SPEAKER_00:

That's right, Laura. Goco is energy done right, made with coconut water, natural caffeine, and real fruit flavors. No crash, no jitters, just clean, feel-good energy that actually tastes amazing.

SPEAKER_01:

It's perfect, right? Whether you're working, traveling, or just keeping your creative spark alive. Basically, it keeps you in that go mode.

SPEAKER_00:

I agree. I'm not necessarily a fan of all energy drinks, but this is one that I truly enjoy. My favorite flavor so far is pineapple, and you can order it straight from gocoenergy.com. That's g-o-k-o-energy.com. Shipped right to your door.

SPEAKER_01:

So hydrating, refreshing, and honestly, it just makes everything flow better. Slice of love. Slice of life. Okay. Slice of life of our celebratory anniversary episode.

SPEAKER_00:

Our anniversary. Should we cheers? Cheers. Cheers to a fantastic 12 months. We've had ups and downs. Uh, a lot happened in our personal lives on both sides.

SPEAKER_01:

So we're here. Merry Christmas and what or happy Hanukkah or whatever you celebrate. Yes. Happy holiday season to everyone.

SPEAKER_00:

Happy New Year. And we're just really happy that we've had people come along on this ride with us and been supportive, and we've had sponsors, and we have new sponsors coming on for 2026. And we really just started this as a funny project. We did not think that we would, I think, be here in this spot a year later. It is kind of surreal. It is, and the amount of things that we've kind of accomplished and done. So I think we're both really proud of our effort and our work. Our effort, our work. Congratulations. Cheers. Oh, and this is today.

SPEAKER_01:

I'll take a sip, but now eat a grape right after because it really it really goes well with the I just want to show this.

SPEAKER_00:

This is uh 1917 kava. It is from this uh winery called Messet. And this was voted, this is what we're drinking today, as the best kava in the world. World champion 2025. And we, I mean, congratulations to them, but it's a fantastic company here. But it's not from 1917. No, no, no, no. It's just that's the name of this particular bottle. This is their very pretty bottle. And we met them when we went to the food show in uh where was that, Alicante? Yeah. So we went to that food show in Alicante, I think, in September, and I filled out a car just for more information. They phoned me and then I made an order. They brought it straight to the house and they take cash payment. So it was actually really super easy. Nice. And I did a little research and I found that that is the best kava in the world. Amazing.

SPEAKER_01:

So again, it's really tasty, and I love how it goes with the grapes. We were going to try to put 12 grapes in our mouth, but it may post this episode significantly. But we would absolutely love to hear, if you've never tried it before, to do the 12 grapes.

SPEAKER_00:

We'll do it. You know, we'll do it.

SPEAKER_01:

Join the Spanish tradition. We'll do it. We'll try it for socials. Yeah. We'll see like doing, doing, doing, doing like the timing. Yeah. So the other thing as well that we wanted to share with you, we thought it would be cool to do our kind of top three moments of the year. Uh this year. Again, as Nalini said, we have had a lot of challenging moments as well. But a lot of happy and great moments. So, Nalini, what were your favorite three moments of the year?

SPEAKER_00:

Um, okay, I made notes, but I'm just saying off the top of my head, for me, I loved um when we were in Granada and we did that little photo shoot and we were walking around, and it was just the two of us. Um we had gone to Granada with your husband Jeff and my son Ayrton. And we did a tour of the, you know, the um the sort of the Arabic area that was there. It was really pretty, the shops, and we walked up to the Al Ambra, or at least got to the edge of it, and then we were walking back and we we were just like, okay, let's just duck into this little bodega. Yes. It was so fun. I mean, we only stayed half an hour, but they had the vermouth on tap. Yeah. So it was like this frenetic energy at 12:30 on a I don't know. It feels like it's like the happy time of the day. Right. I don't know. It was was not a typical happy hour time, but it was so authentic. It was so real. It was not something we had looked up on our phone or planned. We just were like, let's just go in here, you know, and have a quick drink. And we thought, why not try vermouth? And the vermouth was on from the barrels. It's so good. We had a quick vermouth and a few little tapas, and then went back to the hotel. But that was one of a really organic, fun moment, and it just sticks out in my head. And then my other kind of funny moment would be which is there, there are no words to describe this, but fan the fancy dress party in Benadorn. Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh my goodness.

SPEAKER_00:

There are no words. So I'll just leave it at that as my I mean, we've had so many great moments, but those two kind of just stick out in my mind.

SPEAKER_01:

So I think we mentioned this in the last episode about heavily encouraged to look up fancy dress party and Benadorn. Grace. Especially on socials. I think there's a lot of fun things there. So I think if I were to share a couple of moments that really kind of stand out in my mind is one of them has to be Dragonstone or San Juan de la Telugate.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_01:

I think that the older I get, the more I appreciate things that you can't pay for, if that makes sense. So the experience of being out somewhere so beautiful that it's just being there that makes it special. It's not like a ticketed event or something like a restaurant. No, it was just like being out in this like amazing place. And it just feels very connected, you know?

SPEAKER_00:

And you can't, I mean, unless somebody's you've been there and you've seen it, there really are no words to describe the beauty of that part of Spain. There that you have to see it. Yeah. So I would highly recommend if you're coming here. Um, the winter's cold there, so it's very cold.

SPEAKER_01:

I think it's a really great place to visit in the summer. And I'm actually going to reserve my other two because the year's not over yet. Okay. We've got some like really cool, you know, trips coming up. We're actually going to Madrid. Yes. We're going to be there the day that the Christmas lottery uh goes. So cross your fingers, we'll buy a few tickets to see if we can, you know.

SPEAKER_00:

Do you want to talk talk about the Christmas lottery? Because that's another huge Christmas tradition here.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes. So the Christmas lottery is El Gordo. El Gordo de Navidad. Which is the fat one. Yeah. So it translates into. I researched, like, where does that name come from? Right. And it turns out that apparently when it it many, many years ago, one of the adverts that was printed for the lottery was this really fat guy, you know, on a picture with like all these, you know, it was all these lottery tickets, but it wasn't, it was like a graphic. It was like an actual person. Right. It was a drawing with all these lottery numbers. And that's I think it stuck. It just became, you know, El Gordo de Navidad. It was like, yeah, I know it sounds kind of very weird, but it's that's that's the name of the lottery. So the Christmas lottery, I told Nalini, what has always been mind-blowing to me is that it's not a lottery that you make a tremendous amount of money in if you win. It's like much smaller than like the Euro Millions or the big lotteries in the US. But so many people take part in this lottery. And if you have like one ticket that hits, and I try to understand, I looked at it again yesterday. Right. It's 400,000 euros for one ticket. One. If you were to buy the whole sheet, which is 10 tickets, then you'd be getting 4 million.

SPEAKER_00:

But it's okay, and this is what I think it's difficult to understand as an outsider because you have 10 tickets of the same number. Correct.

SPEAKER_01:

So And the number that comes out from that spinning bowl is the whole number. Right. It's not like one routine. It's the whole number. 10,700. And there's a whole I really wish we could go see this actually in the 22nd. I'll look up the time. But there is these kids from a specific school in Madrid. Oh. The San Il Lefonso, they're the ones that call the numbers. And there's a whole tradition around that too. The Christmas lottery, like we could literally have like a whole episode on it, but I will just say this. If you go to Madrid and you're like downtown near the Gran Villa, you will see one of the most popular places to buy the Christmas lottery.

SPEAKER_00:

Because people have a superstition too, that they have to, even here in Benedorm, the one place where it's right near the Zara, that lottery place is always lined up.

SPEAKER_01:

Because a lot of people travel here from other parts of Spain. Yeah. And if they hear at Christmas, oh, the Christmas lottery, it fell in Spain, and they're like, What? I travel there and I have an apartment there and I didn't buy the Christmas. So a lot of people buy Christmas lottery tickets when they're traveling. Right, right. So it's a whole thing. And then what I read yesterday was interestingly enough, started the actual Christmas lottery. The lottery's itself, the national lottery, was way before, I think like 1700s. The Christmas lottery, the first year they did that was 1812. Wow. And it was in Cádiz. That was the first place that the Christmas lottery was done. And apparently the initial intent, and I wasn't quite able to understand if this was the national lottery or just the Christmas lottery, was a way for the state to collect money without having to ask for more taxes. So it's like, okay, we'll get people all excited, there's a price, but obviously the majority of it is not, you know, it's profit. It's not actually the price. Yeah. So it's a very interesting concept because I was actually gonna ask you, is that the way the lottery is in like other countries where it's owned by the state?

SPEAKER_00:

In Canada, it is a government, um, it's government run, but the money that they collect from the, you know, the gaming corporation, they use it to fund charities. So it will go that's not the case here.

unknown:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

I mean, that's what they say on paper. I haven't really looked into it, but it's also different there because you'll have a, you know, let's say it's 20 million. Um, and in the province that I'm from, Ontario, you you can pick your numbers or do what they call a quick pick. I haven't played 649 in forever, but um it's those numbers that it's it's one ticket that wins and one set of numbers. So I I would pick, you know, 27, 16, 3, you know, you pick the your numbers, that's your ticket. And if all those numbers come up, you're you win the whole prize. Like you don't have to have 10 of the same ticket numbers to win the prize. You win it. So yeah, it's it's different because the first time I bought lottery tickets here and she gave us five or six of the same ticket, I thought, oh god, she thinks we're stupid. Like I was like, wow, she thinks we are really stupid. She sold us the same ticket five times. But if you would have hit that, you would have had five times the prize. Right. And which now I understood uh I understand, but then I did not. So interesting. Yeah. So if you're coming by, buy a ticket, buy a ticket.

SPEAKER_01:

They start selling them very early on. I gotta, I don't know if it's like I know I've seen people lined up for Christmas lottery in Benedome in summer, which is you know, oh really fascinating.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, if you go to the train station in Madrid, oh the guy, the guy's buddy make me thought, and he's like, you know, he's celebrating.

SPEAKER_01:

Everybody knows that guy. It's kind of hard not to know him. He's super loud. You know, he's like, he's the only guy I'm still selling. Okay, so I think we need to go to our closing. And we have to mention two things we did in Madrid, though. Yes. NFL. Should we talk about it? Yeah, NFL quickly. Just quickly.

SPEAKER_00:

I went to the NFL um game in Madrid in uh November, and it was uh Dolphins versus uh Miami Dolphins versus the Washington Commanders at the uh where Real Madrid where they play. So it was, I have to say, for the NFL, like what a fantastic reviews online seem to be like super positive. I I highly recommend it that if you can see a game, an NFL, a seasoned game in somewhere in Europe, and they have one next year in Madrid, go for it.

SPEAKER_01:

I know they've done it in London before, but this is the first time ever they did it in Spain.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, first time and uh 83,000 capacity, the stadium was at 80,000.

SPEAKER_01:

Wow.

SPEAKER_00:

So imagine 80,000 NFL fans in the center of Madrid. I don't know where everybody came from, but what a huge economic boost because there were I mean, most of the people around us at least were American.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Most. And you said there were a lot of people from America in the train, even in the train from Alicante, the entire train, they were all Americans wearing their team jersey. Oh, that's a cool. All Americans team jersey. And on the actual ticket, it said that uh halftime show was Daddy Yankee and Pizza Rap. And I was like, there's no way Daddy Yankee is here. Like, there's no way. And Pizarrap. I mean, he's huge. But he was amazing. I was like, he only sang one song, but you know, still, he was from here to just over there, like super close. It, I mean, congratulations to them for pulling off a great event to the city of Madrid for hosting it. A fantastic way to spend a rainy weekend in November. Awesome. And did you feel safe? Because I think that's the way a thousand percent. Very safe, really happy crowd. Um, just everybody in a good mood. And I think they control the alcohol as well. So there's not I you can get a uh you can I think you can get beer. You can get, I think in most of these things you can get beer and you can get it. And I think that might be about it, but because I didn't see anybody with anything else other than a cup of beer.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

So there wasn't that crazy kind of, you know, fight's gonna kick off in any any second. It wasn't that atmosphere at all. People were just in a really, really good mood.

SPEAKER_01:

Most big events here really don't have that kind of um vibe of like, you know, unsafe.

SPEAKER_00:

And you went to Marilyn Manson. I did.

SPEAKER_01:

Like a week later or a week later after the NFL. Yeah. And I I had to laugh about this because I think Marilyn Manson may be the only rock star that starts and ends his concerts on time, which did not work to my advantage. He's also mid-50s. He is mid-50s, but I gotta, you know, I gotta give it to Mr. Marilyn Manson that I mean he looks amazing. He's lost a bunch of weight, he's got in shape, and everybody's talking about how great this tour is. Right. You know, I seen him a few years ago, and it wasn't that great. I don't think he was at the best moment in his career. And this was a to me, it was very special. It was pretty hilarious because I'll make a confession, I abandoned my suitcase at the Madrid Barajas Airport because we landed. I'm like, I am not gonna make it to this concert, you know, all the reviews online. He's starting on time. So I just said, you know what? I'm just gonna leave my suitcase here and I'll try and figure this out tomorrow. Because if not, I was gonna be 45 minutes late to the concert. So I just left. And then the following day, I'm like, oh, my suitcase didn't come out, you know, and and then they sent it to the house, which I'm very grateful for. But you're like I walked into the venue as he was starting the first song. Oh, good, two minutes after the supposed start time. So it was like he started on time. He did.

SPEAKER_00:

He also stayed in the same hotel room that we did in the summer, by the way.

SPEAKER_01:

I think the receptionist was like worried that I was some kind of weird stalker. And because I seen his wife post it on Instagram and there was a picture, like you said. Yeah. So I went up to the receptionist and I'm like, is Marilyn Manson staying here? And the receptionist is like, no, he left already, just like looking at me like, what?

SPEAKER_00:

Because you sent it to me, and I'm like, wow, cool. And then three minutes later, I wrote back, I'm like, who is that? Yeah. You're like, it's Marilyn Manson in our hotel room from the summer. I'm like, oh, okay. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

But it was funny, like the receptionist was like, I'm not telling you that. But yeah, because I knew he's not here anymore. I'm like, okay. Well, Laura, we've had a year. Yes, we have, and we still have the sentence of the day. Sentence of the day. Let's do it. Before we close out. So this is very much I haven't looked at it. Good. This is very much about a new year. So it's Año Nuevo, New Year, Vida Nueva. New Year, New Life. Yes. Yes. Only 12 months. It only took me 12 months. Año nuevo, vida nueva. And I think it goes without saying, you know, this is an opportunity for renewal, for refocusing, for thinking about, you know, how are we gonna make 2026 special? So there you go. Awesome. Yeah, cheers. Cheers, everyone. Please like, subscribe, all the things, and please engage with us. We love hearing from you. And we'll say bye for now. Bye.

SPEAKER_00:

The Maid in Spain podcast is fueled by GoCo Energy, refreshingly real energy that keeps the good vibes going.