Merry Christmas in Spanish: “Feliz Navidad” and More Holiday Vocabulary
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How do you say “Christmas” in Spanish? How do they celebrate Christmas in Spanish-speaking cultures?
Here are the answers you need about the holidays in Spanish!
Besides Christmas Day itself, there are other holidays celebrated in Spanish-speaking countries over the winter. Some of these are even bigger than Christmas Day, and overall the winter festivities last about a month. These other holidays often focus on holy feast days from 8th December to 6th January. That said, Christmas Day has become more popular to celebrate,
So besides learning about Christmas in Spanish and all the holiday vocabulary you need, let’s learn about the unique holiday traditions from around the Spanish-speaking world.
¡Felices fiestas! (“Happy Holidays!”)
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Table of contents
“Merry Christmas” in Spanish
How do you say “Merry Christmas” in Spanish?
¡Feliz Navidad!
In English, feliz translates as “happy” and Navidad means “Christmas”. So, Feliz Navidad means “Merry Christmas” or “Happy Christmas”. You may recognise the phrase from the popular tune – Feliz Navidad.
How would you say “Happy Christmas Eve”?
In Spanish, “Christmas Eve” is Nochebuena, which means “the Good Night”. So you might have guessed it: “Happy Christmas Eve” is Feliz Nochebuena.
In many families in Spain, Nochebuena is the main family celebration, with dinner and sometimes Midnight Mass. Other families celebrate differently, and gift-opening customs vary.
Fun fact: The traditional Christmas flower, the Poinsettia, is also called Flor de Nochebuena (“The flower of the Good Night”).
“Happy New Year” in Spanish
You can wish someone a “Happy New Year” by saying Feliz Año Nuevo. This is a literal translation, with feliz meaning “happy”, año meaning “year”, and nuevo meaning “new”. In this phrase, nuevo comes after año, but Spanish adjectives can come before or after nouns depending on the adjective and the intended meaning.
But, you can also wish someone a “prosperous new year”. You can say ¡Feliz Navidad y Próspero Año Nuevo! to wish someone “Merry Christmas and Happy New Year” in Spanish.
A lot of New Year traditions welcome in prosperity for the new year, so Próspero Año Nuevo is commonly used.
For New Year’s Eve, you say Nochevieja. It actually translates as “old night”, because it’s the last day of the old year.
There are loads of regional New Year traditions about starting the new year completely new and fresh. Many people make sure they’ve cleaned their homes, and wear all new clothes. This way, nothing from the old year comes with them into the new one.
Some people believe this is important to ward off bad luck.
50+ More Spanish Words and Phrases for the Christmas Season
So how do you talk about Christmas in Spanish? How do you tell someone to countdown to midnight, and talk about your New Year’s Resolution?
Here are all the words you need to talk about the holidays in Spanish.
Christmas Spanish Vocabulary
- To wish – Desear
- Angel – Ángel
- To decorate – Decorar
- Christmas tree – Árbol de Navidad
- Winter – Invierno
- Snow – Nieve
- Sleigh bells – Campanas de trineo
- Presents – Regalos
- Mistletoe – Muérdago
- Reindeer – Reno
- Santa Claus- Papá Noel
- Candy cane – Bastón de caramelo
- Christmas card – Tarjeta de Navidad
- Snowman – Muñeco de nieve
- Celebrate – Celebrar
- Dinner – Cena
- Chimney – Chimenea
- Eggnog – Ponche de huevo
- Candles – Velas
- Elf – Elfo
- Ornament – Adorno
- Family – Familia
- Star – Estrella
- Fireplace – Hogar
- Chestnuts – Castañas
- Carols – Villancicos
- Gingerbread man / Gingerbread house – Hombre de pan de jengibre / Casa de jengibre
- Holiday break / vacation – Vacaciones
- Hot chocolate – Chocolate caliente
- Jolly – Alegre
- Christmas lights – Luces de Navidad
- Naughty – Travieso
- Nice – Agradable
- Goodwill – Buena voluntad
- Nutcracker – Cascanueces
- Stocking – Calcetín navideño
- Tinsel – Oropel
- Good tidings – Buenas nuevas
- Wrapping paper – Papel de regalo
- December 25 – Veinticinco de diciembre
New Year’s Spanish Vocabulary
- Twelve o’clock – Las doce
- Countdown – Cuenta regresiva
- New Year’s resolution – Propósito de año nuevo
- Balloons – Globos
- Confetti – Confeti
- Midnight – Medianoche
- Grapes – Uvas
- Champagne – Champán
- Fireworks – Fuegos artificiales
- Midnight kiss – Beso de medianoche
- Clock – Reloj
- Ring in the New Year – Recibir el Año Nuevo
- Calendar – Calendario
- Tradition – Tradición
- January 1st – Primero de enero
If you want to learn more Spanish Vocabulary, check out this video on how to learn Spanish online:
Spanish Christmas and Winter Holiday Traditions
With all the vocab I’ve given you, you’re likely ready to talk about your own traditions and holidays in Spanish. So, let’s learn about Spanish cultural traditions and unique holidays.
The Spanish-speaking world includes religious feast days, playful local customs and family traditions that vary by country and region. The examples below are starting points, not a single Hispanic Christmas.
Tió de Nadal
This one might confuse tennis fans at first, but it has no ties to the iconic Rafael Nadal or his uncle and coach Toni.
Celebrated in Catalonia, Tió de Nadal means “Christmas log”. During the ritual, children sing the command Caga, tió! – “Poop, log!” – but Caga Tió isn't another name for the log.
A wood log is dressed up with a face, wooden legs, and a hat on the feast day of the Immaculate Conception on December 8th. Children have to keep the log warm by covering it with a blanket, and feeding it small pieces of food in the evening.
On Christmas, the family will hit the log with a stick and ask the log to poop out treats. If they took good care of the log, they’ll receive their reward – usually turrón, a sweet nougat dessert.
El Día de los Reyes Magos
In Spain and some Spanish-speaking communities, 6 January remains an important gift-giving day associated with the Wise Men. Other families exchange gifts at Christmas or combine both traditions.
Called El Día de los Reyes Magos (“Three Kings’ Day”), this holiday is based on the biblical story of the three Wise Men who visited Jesus shortly after he was born. When they saw him, they presented him with gifts of frankincense, myrrh, and gold.
On January 6th, there is usually a parade during which the Wise Men go through town and throw candy to young children. When the kids return home, they leave out their shoes, hoping for “the Kings” to fill them with presents. If the kids have been bad, they might receive lumps of coal instead of gifts.
It’s not so bad today, though. In the past, the “coal” was real, but nowadays it’s actually candy!
Día de los Santos Inocentes
The Spanish version of April Fool’s Day, called Día de los Santos Inocentes (“Day of the Holy Innocents”), happens a few days after Christmas on December 28th. It’s a fun day of pranks and silliness, just like April 1st can be.
El Gordo
On 22 December, Spain’s Sorteo Extraordinario de Navidad takes place. It is Spain’s long-running Christmas lottery draw. El Gordo is the popular name of the first prize, not the official name of the lottery itself.
Christmas Day Traditions in the Spanish Speaking World
For some Christian families in Spain and other Spanish-speaking communities, Christmas Eve includes a large family dinner and la Misa del Gallo, “Mass of the Rooster” or Midnight Mass.
Why a Rooster? It’s believed the night Jesus was born, a rooster crowed to mark the beginning of a “new day”, even though it was night time.
Belén is Spanish for “Bethlehem”; as a common noun, belén means “nativity scene”, and its plural is belenes. Nativity scenes are common in Spain, and some towns build large public displays. They are often immersive, with farms and a whole marketplace accompanying the nativity scene in the stable.
A bit like trick-or-treating and caroling mixed together, kids go around singing Christmas carols for treats. It’s called pedir el aguinaldo (“ask for the Christmas treat” or “bonus”). Sometimes the kids receive money, and sometimes candy, for their singing. It’s a fun tradition to spread Christmas cheer!
Fun fact: The tradition sometimes gets pushed to the limit. In fact, in some countries it’s common for teenagers to pedir el aguinaldo… at three in the morning! Not sure if I would prefer that or waking up to a house covered in toilet paper after Halloween.
New Year’s Traditions in Spanish Cultures
Ringing in the New Year in Spanish-speaking cultures involves a lot of lucky rituals!
Let’s start with a famous Spanish one: when the clock strikes twelve, people will eat 12 green grapes, called las doce uvas de la suerte, and make a wish for each one they eat.
In Spain, the familiar version is to eat one grape with each of the twelve midnight clock chimes. The pace is part of the ritual, although customs vary by household and place.
In some areas, people also eat lentils right after midnight or for lunch the next day. Lentils are small and round like coins, so they bring in prosperity! But others prefer to hold real coins at midnight in hopes the New Year will be filled with wealth.
As in other cultures, it’s common to drink champagne at midnight. But usually, the champagne is flavored to bring a certain type of luck in the New Year. For instance, put strawberries in your champagne to attract love, or a gold ring to attract wealth.
You want to make sure to pull it out of the glass when you’re done, so it comes true.
Clothing traditions vary across the Spanish-speaking world. Yellow is associated with luck in some Latin American communities, while other places favour red or another colour, so check the local custom before presenting one version as universal.
Some New Year traditions link red underwear with luck in love, and one version says it should be a gift. Treat that as a local custom rather than a rule for the whole Spanish-speaking world.
And when the clock strikes midnight, stand on your right foot! This starts the year off “on the right foot” – literally – so you have a good year.
¡Feliz Navidad y Próspero Año Nuevo!
Now, go wish someone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year in Spanish! Try talking about the new Spanish holidays you learned, too. Did you know about the “pooping log” or the three Wise Men who bring gifts instead of Santa Claus?
If you try a tradition from a Spanish-speaking community, learn where it comes from and share what you found with me on Instagram or TikTok at @irishpolyglot.
Wherever you are in the world, I hope you have a ¡Feliz Navidad y Próspero Año Nuevo!
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