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[dr_pi]

I'm going to have a couple of weeks in Spain in mid-December, including Christmas itself. We'll be mostly along the SE coast and Andalusía. Any recommendations for where to spend Christmas Eve and Day?

Of course, any other sights we should see or other cultural experiences we should have are most welcome. Thanks!

[sassafrass]

You're so lucky! If you haven't been before, you'll be blown away by Andalucia.

Sevilla is the largest city in the region: it's laid-back and has great nightlife. Because of all the tourists, I find it a hard city to get to know. But since you'll be travelling in the low season, you'll have better luck hanging out with sevillanos. The Alcazar and Cathedral are not to be missed. I also really like Granada: it's a small place, a little bit sleepy but also very friendly. The great thing about Granada is that it's one of the last places in Spain where you get free tapas with your bebidas. The more rounds you buy at any given bar, the better the tapas you get in reply. The Alhambra is one of the great wonders of the world--it is stunning, you should go. For me though, I've been taken with Cadiz. It's a crumbling and faded city that reminds me of Havana, strangely, but is open, accessible and the food is genius. No real sights here just a nice, provincial seaside town. Cordoba is okay--a little too workaday for my taste but might be worth your while to see the Mosque. I haven't been but people rave about Malaga. It has a slightly tacky reputation because of its location on the Costa del Sol, but folks say the old town and the Picasso museum is top notch.

There are smaller towns and villages like Ronda, Jerez and Vejer, etc but given the low season, I reckon you might want to stick to slightly busier places as many things will be closed during the winter especially around the holidays.

Just a note: as you might know, Spain is very family-centric so this time of year will be rather closed for the outsider with few familial ties to the area. Whatever you do, I'd be sure to rent an apartment (I have loads of suggestions if you PM me) so that you can cook and have space to hang out since many tourist places will be closed (or have reduced hours) during the holidays.

[llanfair]

Posting to keep the ideas coming.  Andalucia is a dream destination for me - my passion for history started with a novel about Isabel and Fernando.

[dr_pi]

Thanks so much, Sassafrass, that's a great start! None of us has been there before. Is there a way I can find out which kinds of places are likely to be closed - some central clearing-house? Of course, I realize that it's a big region and such a centralized info source might not exist, but it'd be nice to get a feel for what we're likely to be able to do and not do.

We'll have three young twenty-somethings with us, so ideas for kinds of things they might enjoy would be terrific.

I got intrigued by the idea of those White Villages (Arcos, Ronda, etc.), so had been thinking of spending 2-3 days there. Any specifics to recommend?

And I'll PM you about apartment rentals. That's a great idea I probably wouldn't have thought of.

[merce]

Now that you mention it, in France there was a central clearing house of store closings or openings on holidays and Sundays.  It was extremely handy.
Days for closing and special days where stores, all stores can be open on a Sunday or holiday, are determined by the government. They list these on government websites.
Then there are stores that somehow get exceptional opening privileges. This is what I found a calendar to in France. I did some quick googling without luck thus far. I did find something for the Madrid region and one for the store Carrefour. Nothing for Andalucia.
you could google aperturas excepcionales and then the name of the area you´ll be in. It might be easier once the time grows nearer.

A few years back I rented my apt in Spain to a family for a couple weeks around Xmas since I was going away.  300 Euros. Super duper cheap for them and paid my month´s rent for me. This summer I stayed in a place someone here on the CHE found on Sabbaticalhomes when I started a thread on super cheap housing for short stays. Both experiences were great.

[drspouse]

In Spain as in some other Mediterranean countries the big family day is Christmas Eve, with an evening meal. I know the shops, museums etc. are closed on Christmas Day, but beyond that I think they are open.

The other major celebration is Three Kings which can be great fun, if you can stay that long.

We have stayed in a student residence in a vacation in Spain before - like a fairly cheap hotel, really.