Hello,

We are going to be arriving in Spain on the 22nd or 23rd of December.

We don't really plan on doing much unpacking until after Christmas.
however we have a young son and we want to still do Christmas.

Will it be possible to buy a Christmas tree, Turkey that late? Or are they still available.

If they are roughly how much do these cost in Spain?

Thanks.

Don't know where you're going, but there are a few supermarkets here, and they do stock Christmas stuff. It is Christmas after all. Most of them close up end of day on 24th.

Flight prices very expensive

We will be arriving on the 13th for our third Christmas / New Year break in Spain. All of the major supermarkets are well stocked with festive stuff and stay open until the 24th. Shut on the 25th, open again on the 26th. In Spain, the time for children's presents is Three Kings on 6th January. So there's lots of Christmas stuff on sale right up till then. Your son can have two Christmases!

Be warned: it gets as frantic in Spain as it does in the UK. Our first year we made the mistake of going for some last minute fresh stuff on the afternoon of the 24th. Huge error, the car parks were jammed, the store was bursting at the seams, the queues at the tills were endless, hysteria prevailed. After that, we made sure we were stocked and ready by the 22nd when everyone is glued to the TV watching the Christmas lottery draw.

I hope you and your family enjoy it as much as we do. Feliz navidad.

Thanks Kenwoodlad, that's quite helpful to know! Everything being frantic is what we were worried about, as we'll be so new to the place, tired, probably struggling to understand the local dialect and would find a trip to the market a challenge even if it wasn't Christmas and heaving.

Amideislas, we'll be moving to Valencia.

Dondurma, yes flights are very expensive, but we'll be driving.

What about Christmas trees.... do they sell them in the supermarkets? Are they picked clean by the 23rd?

We gave up on trees many years ago so don't really pay attention to what's on offer. We've seen artificial trees in the likes of Leroy Merlin and Carrefour. But don't recall seeing any real trees. If you're happy with artificial, I'm sure you'll get something, even as late as the 21st. Especially if you're going to Valencia, it's a big city with huge out-of-town superstore type places. Remember, shops tend to open late till 9 or 10pm, especially in the run-up to big festivals like Christmas.

Wouldn't it be less stressful for you all to book into a hotel for Christmas, then sort all your stuff out?
Christmas decorations, tree, Santa will all be there.All you'll need are a few presents, as kids expect them on 25 th and 6th now.
Coming so late, it will be a nightmare if you want to do all the traditional Christmas stuff, on top of being tired, and unpacking, unless you know someone who could sort it for you before you get there.

Thanks again, Kenwoodlad! More great advice.

Neptuno... we won't be unpacking until after Christmas. My stepmum had a similar suggestion, but we have a 3-year old.... an extremely high energy 3-year-old. To be perfectly frank, spending Christmas at a hotel, trying to keep him from running around, would be the worst Christmas ever. We'd rather do something small scale in our new home, where we don't have to worry about offending anyone. In any case, it would cost a lot of money, and we're spending a small fortune on moving the way it is.

Spain is packed full of Chino stores now & you can get all you need in there except food of course.

You will be able to buy all that you need in your nearest Carrefour except a real tree. I cannot remember ever seeing real trees for sale anywhere so I cannot help you with that but you may be lucky at a garden centre. I will keep my eyes open for you. Things such as mince pies, Christmas pudding, Christmas crackers and traditional Christmas cake are not readily available in this area so if they are important to you I suggest that you bring them with you.

Rosemary

IIRC, cutting down any tree is illegal here (unless you buy a permit, of course).

I've spent a lot of time in hotels with my 3 year old

I never felt the need to stop him running around. That's what lobbies are for!

The garden centre I went to today was stocked full of artificial trees but I couldn't see any real ones. On the other hand, someone brought a real tree on the plane with them last week. Not a big one, but it fit into the hand luggage so was probably about 20 inches high. Perhaps if you are driving over you could find room for just a little one.
Kath

I was in Leroy Merlin yesterday and there were no real Rees there either although they had lots of artificial ones.