What can you do in Barcelona during the winter? Things can get a little boring in the winter you would think? Well think again! In this blogpost I am going to tell you about, things to do in Barcelona during January. The best ways to start of the new year and you will definitely will not be bored.
Christmas markets
During Christmas time you can find lovely Christmas markets in Barcelona! If you come to Barcelona in early January, you will still find some Christmas markets and they are definitely worth a visit.
There is one Christmas market in Placa de Catalunya. This Christmas market is in the centre of Barcelona and Placa de Catalunya is a very popular place. It has a lot of activities for families, children and adults. You can find a lot of handmade and sustainable gifts. The Christmas market is open from 10.00h until 21.00h. It closes on the 4th of January.
You will also find a Christmas market on Gran via street from streets Muntaner to Calabria. This is one of Barcelona’s biggest Christmas and New Years market, it has around 300 stalls! In this market you can find lots of toys, traditional gifts such as ‘Carbon de azucar’, candy and other Christmas related items. A lot of people go to this Christmas market to buy gifts for Thee Kings day which is on the 6th of January. The market is open from 10.00h until 22.00h. This Christmas market closes on the 6th of January.
Three Kings day
Three Kings day is one of the most celebrated festivals in Barcelona. It is a Christian feast day and the children are in the centre this day. Three Kings day is on the 6th of January (the 12th day of Christmas) and on this day people celebrate The Three Kings.
The evening before Three Kings day, so on the 5th of January, there will be a big parade and it will march through the city centre. You have a lot of different parades in Barcelona but the one in the city centre is the biggest and the most important one. The parade will start at Av. Del Marqués from 18.00h until 21.30h. During the parade children will receive lots of candy. You will also see children handing out their letters to the three kings asking them for gifts that they want.
The Three Kings bring the children their presents on 6th January. The 6th January it is a public holiday in Spain and this is the biggest Christmas gift giving day in Barcelona. It is also the day that the children can open their presents from The Three Kings.
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Winter sale
After Three kings day, on the 7th of January, a big winter sale will start in Barcelona. The winter sales will end around the end of February, so it lasts a long time. The sales will start from discounts of 20%, 30% and sometimes even 50%. As the weeks go by the discounts will increase, in the end of the winter sale you can sometimes find discounts of 70% or even 80%! The variety of products and sizes will most likely decrease at the end of the sale.
One of the most important shopping street is Portal de l’Àngel, this street is full of affordable clothing stores such as Zara, Mango, H&M, Pull & Bear and many more.
If you want to splurge and want designer items you should go to Passeig de Gracia. This is one of the most famous high streets in Barcelona. This street includes famous designer brands like Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Gucci, Valentino and many more.
Department stores are the perfect way for shopping quickly, they have basically have everything! If you want to go to a department store in Barcelona, you should go to El Corte Inglés. This is the best known department store in Spain and in Europe!
If you like shopping, we really recommend going to Barcelona in January because you can get amazing discounts. But you should be prepared, it can get really busy in all the stores, especially in the beginning of the winter sales.
Tres Tombs
Every January you can experience the parade of Tres Tombs. The Tres Tombs festival will be celebrated in towns through out Catalunya. They celebrate St. Anthony, the saint of animals, the poor and the sick. A horse-drawn parade will take three turns (tres tombs). In Barcelona the parade will take place in the neighbourhood of Sant Antoni, after which he is named. During the parade you will see a lot of horse drawn vehicles, with traditional costumes. When the parade passes the church “la Escola Pia de Sant Antoni”, all the parade animals and riders are blessed and anointed with holy water by a priest. When the parade is over a lot of people crowd around the priest to have their own small pets blessed and anointed.
The parade is very festive and fun to watch for children and adults and it is definitely worth a visit. This year will be the 192th edition of Tres Tombs festival parade. The parade is on the 21th of January in Sant Antoni. The parade will start at 10.30h and it takes about two and a half hours.
Hopefully with these tips you won’t be bored and found some things to do in Barcelona. Do you want more
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