Christmas is almost upon us in Guardamar and although the town has been hit somewhat by the downturn in the economy, Guardamar is still a town which knows how to put on a good celebration. The nativity scene is already up in the main street, Christmas lights have been strung up everywhere, and Christmas music is being played in the supermarkets … the Spanish and English varieties.

Because the town is set in the wonderful Costa Blanca, we still have some fairly decent temperatures … 20° during the day, although the sea wind can give a bit of a bite to your legs if you’re still wearing shorts.

This is my first Christmas in the Costa Blanca and already I’m noticing some very significant differences between here and back home in the UK. Firstly, the aforementioned temperature … back in the UK at the moment they are experiencing temperatures of close to 0°, and I don’t want to go too much into that because I have had to face it for all of my 45 years so now I think I deserve a bit more of the sunshine that Guardamar offers.

Another big difference is the timings of the celebrations. Back home celebrations are normally conducted on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, St Stephen’s Day … or Boxing Day, with everything running to a nice smooth finish on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. In Spain, on the other hand, things tend to be spread out a little bit further to 6 January and the feast of the three Kings. Spaniards tend to put a lot more emphasis on this date than the actual Christmas celebrations, saving a lot of their present giving until this day.

The best news is that we have found a local bar where they are showing all the Premier league football matches so we’re not going to miss the usual St Stephen’s Day Gala. And with that I wish everybody happy Christmas and a prosperous New Year from the Costa Blanca. More information about the Costa Blanca and Alicante in general can be found at the Olive Branch.