If you are from Barcelona (or have been here for a while) you surely know the infinite number of Christmas markets that sprout around the city at this time of the year. From the traditional ones like Santa Llúcia to other more modern ones like the Design Market, in winter the locals stay, rightly, more in the city, and enjoy Christmas in the streets of Barcelona.
But at Christmas Catalonia is also full of life and traditional Christmas fairs and markets that cover the Catalan geography of Christmas and traditions that perhaps you did not know. From the Fira de l’Avet d’Espinelves, the place where the Catalans have always gone to look for their Christmas tree to the Fira del Tió de Solsona, where people go to look for the Tió.
So, in order for you not to miss Christmas outside Barcelona (or for you to discover it), we bring you some traditional Christmas fairs near Barcelona for a good Christmas getaway.
Fira de l’Avet d’Espinelves (Espinelves Fair)
The Fira de l’Avet d’Espinelves, in Osona is one of the most unique Christmas fairs. It takes place from November 30 to December 8 in a charming place where you can still feel the smell of the villages of yesteryear in winter, firewood and fireplace. Here you will find Christmas fir trees that are sold with root ball so that they can be replanted again.
Only 200 people live here in a village that revolves for a week to sell its native fir tree, the Masjordí, of special quality, which is cultivated with sustainable criteria.
It is the place where the Barcelona pixapins have traditionally gone to get their Christmas tree is an hour from Barcelona, near Vic. This year they expect to welcome 90,000 visitors and sell around 3,000 Christmas trees.
We tell you everything you need to know about this fair in our article.
📍 Espinelves (Osona)
📅 December 30 to 8
Fira del Tió de Solsona
The Fira del Tió de Solsona is a traditional fair that takes place on December 9 with local artisans offering their products in a market located between the Plaza Mayor and adjacent streets. In addition to exhibits of these unique trunks of Catalan tradition that bring gifts to children on December 24, the fair features family workshops, contests, children’s shows and musical performances.
📍 Solsona
📅 December 7
Caldes de Montbui Christmas market.
From December 5 to 10, Caldes de Montbui celebrates a new edition of the Christmas Market, with a hundred stalls set up in the streets of the historic center, as well as an extensive program of family activities. The largest pot in Catalonia, with a capacity of 1,600 liters, will boil again to prepare the traditional thermal broth, with tastings of pot meat and cooked vegetables.
📍 Caldes de Montbiui
📅 December 5 to 8
Fira del Gall de Vilafranca del Penedés.
The Vilafranca del Penedès Rooster Fair is a traditional poultry and poultry market that has been held since the Middle Ages. On the weekend of December 16 and 17 you can buy and taste a native variety of poultry highly prized for its meat. You will find from the most traditional to the most innovative recipes, accompanied by the wines of the D.O. Penedés.
📍 Vilafranca del Penedés
📅21 and 22 December