Christmas in the Basque Country starts with the of

Santo Tomas Santo Tomás is Spanish for Saint Thomas. Santo Tomas may also refer to: Places Argentina * Santo Tomás, Buenos Aires, Carlos Casares Partido, Buenos Aires Province * Santo Tomás, Neuquén Colombia * Santo Tomás, Atlantico Cuba ...

on 21 December, a celebration in which most people go out onto the streets to dance and eat talo with txistorra (a type of

Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous co ...

chorizo). They wear a traditional outfit called the casera dress. For girls it consists of a long skirt and a long-sleeved old-fashioned shirt with headscarves and aprons. The boys wear a long black shirt, trousers and txapela (traditional black

beret A beret ( or ; ; eu, txapela, ) is a soft, round, flat-crowned cap, usually of woven, hand-knitted wool, crocheted cotton, wool felt, or acrylic fibre. Mass production of berets began in 19th century France and Spain, and the beret remains ...

). The casera outfits are normally dark blue, but can come in many colors. They wear caseras because that is what the people of the mountain wear and the holiday used to celebrate the peasants who sold their goods in town and came on Santo Tomas to pay rent to landlords in the city.

The Santa of Basque Country

In the Basque Country the equivalent of

Santa Santa Claus, also known as Father Christmas, Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Kris Kringle, or simply Santa, is a legendary figure originating in Western Christian culture who is said to bring children gifts during the late evening and overnigh ...

Olentzero Olentzero (, sometimes Olentzaro or Olantzaro) is a character in Basque Christmas tradition. According to Basque traditions, Olentzero comes to town late at night on the 24th of December to drop off presents for children. In some places he arriv ...

, and Olentzero lives or lived (depending on what you believe) in the mountains, and he wears the boys' casera. He is a mythical Basque character who is widely portrayed as a messenger who cries out that it is

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus, Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by country, around t ...

time throughout all the corners of the Basque Country. In some versions, the

is a farmer or a shepherd. Nevertheless, it is common in all of the tales that the

brings good news to people. He is also known as the coal man who comes down from the mountains on his

pottok The Pottok or Pottoka ( or , eu, pottoka ), is an endangered, semi-feral breed of pony native to the Pyrenees of the Basque Country (greater region), Basque Country in France and Spain. It is considered an ancient breed of horse, particularly ...

(wild Basque horse) to hand out presents to children. Chestnuts and wine are given to the villagers. By tradition, on December 24, the Basque television and radio stations broadcast that the

has begun his journey from the mountains to children's homes. In

Francoist Spain Francoist Spain ( es, España franquista), or the Francoist dictatorship (), was the period of Spanish history between 1939 and 1975, when Francisco Franco ruled Spain after the Spanish Civil War with the title . After his death in 1975, Spai ...

(1939 - 1975), Olentzero was banned as a symbol of regional separatism. It was only after the

Spanish transition to democracy Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

that the tradition was restored to the Basque Country.

Christmas Day

On Christmas Day all the children in the Basque Country go to sleep earlyChristmas in the Basque Country
Lifted from Euskal Etxeak 6-7, page 11. Retrieved 29 May 2013 and they leave their shoes in the middle of whatever room in the house that isn't the bathroom or their bedroom. Olentzero leaves all the presents beside the shoes. On

New Year's Day New Year's Day is a festival observed in most of the world on 1 January, the first day of the year in the modern Gregorian calendar. 1 January is also New Year's Day on the Julian calendar, but this is not the same day as the Gregorian one. Wh ...

some people put on their casera dresses and they go sing to the retired people in the retirement home. The day after in the morning, whether it's raining or snowing, it's a tradition for some people to go swim in the sea (if there is a sea in their town or city). The one other day that is important to the Basques is the 6th of January (the Day of the Three Kings). On that night the same happens. The children leave their shoes out and in the night the Three Kings come and leave presents, but much less than

does.

References

{{reflist

External links

The 'Christmas Special' album about Olenzero in the Basque public news channel
Retrieved 29 May 2013

The Santa of Basque Country

Christmas Day

References

External links

See also