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CHRISTMAS

12 cracking Spain-themed Christmas gift ideas

Wondering what presents to buy your loved ones at home? The Local has rounded up a dozen of the very Spanish best gift ideas for everyone from foodies to fashionistas.

People buy Christmas gifts in a store of Santa Cruz de Tenerife in 2018. (Photo by DESIREE MARTIN / AFP)
There are no shortage of Spain-themed present ideas you can take back home with you for Christmas (Photo by Pau BARRENA / AFP)

For the person who has everything 

Spanish leather products are generally of excellent quality and great value for money too. With everything from belts and purses to handbags on offer, you’re bound to find something for the man or woman who has it all.

Believe it or not, leather goods from Spain have been highly sought out after since the Middle Ages. Archive photo: Shutterstock

For the joker 

In one of Spain’s strangest festive traditions, many people decorate their Christmas cribs with the mysterious figure known as caganers, or ‘crappers’. Traditionally the crappers were peasants from one of Spain’s Catalan-speaking areas in red ‘barretina’ caps. But the modern versions feature well-known figures from the world of sports, politics and the movies, including former US president Donald Trump.

READ ALSO: Why Spain’s Catalonia celebrates Christmas with someone having a poo

Because nothing says ‘I love you’ like a figurine of a famous person defecating. Photo: caganer.com
 
For the foodie 
Saffron, one of the world’s most expensive spices, is a key ingredient in several typical Spanish dishes including paella, and you can pick it up in Spain for roughly half the price of UK supermarkets. The thread-like spice, derived from the flower of the Crocus sativus, is used in dishes around the world, from saffron bread to curries. Soak the threads in hot water before use to release all the flavour.
You can expect to find cheaper saffron in Spain than abroad. (Photo by TAUSEEF MUSTAFA / AFP)

 
For the fashionista 
Espadrilles have been made in the Pyrenees since the fourteenth century and there are shops in the Basque country than have been selling the rope-soled canvas shoes for well over a century. Recently espadrilles have exploded onto the fashion scene, being made from everyone from designers like Missoni and Valentino to almost every shop on the high street. Why not buy the fashionista in your family the real thing: a pair of Spanish espadrilles that will be much cheaper and more authentic than the designer option. 
Spanish fashion products are generally a safe bet for a Christmas present. Photo: Freejpg/Flickr
 
For the souvenir junkie 
Spain’s king and queen have brought a dose of glamour to the royal palace since King Juan Carlos abdicated in 2014, and a whole new range of royal family merchandise to boot. From mugs and badges to t-shirts and commemorative plates, something is bound to fit the bill if the person you’re giving a gift to is a royalist. 
We’re not saying royalty-themed mugs aren’t a bit tacky, but there are certainly worse souvenirs. Photo: Gerard Julien/AFP
 
For the carnivore
Huge legs of ham are an enduring symbol of Spain, hanging in bars and restaurants around the country. They also make a seriously impressive present for a die-hard carnivore. Jamon Ibérico is one of the finest hams in the world and is cured for at least 12 months. Include a ham stand and extra sharp knife to ensure the slicing of extra thin, melt in the mouth authentic taste of Spain. You’re likely to even find vacuum-sealed jamón at Spain’s main airports.
Some delectable Spanish jamón will win hearts at Christmas. Archive photo: Shutterstock

For the footy mad
Spain is home to some of the biggest football clubs on the planet and its national team is one of the best in the world. Most football teams have their own shops, but there is football merchandise to be found in every tourist shop across Spain, so popular is the national sport.
If you want to get a cheaper deal on a football top in Spain, don’t buy the latest one. Photo: RFEF
 
For party lovers
Spain is one of the largest three wine producers in the world, along with France and Italy, and has the most land dedicated to winemaking of any country. Famous wine-producing areas include La Rioja, Ribera del Duero and Jerez, home to sherry. Spaniards also love to crack open some cava to celebrate special occasions, so you’ll be spoiled for choice when it comes to choosing which bottle to take home.
Cava is Spain’s version of champagne, even though France doesn’t officially allow them to call it that. Photo: cyclonebill/Flickr
 
For the bookworm
What better present for kids than a classic fairy tale like Snow White (Blancanieves) – in Spanish? Not only do they have a beautiful object to enjoy, but they can learn a few words in a foreign language at the same time. If you want to pump up the educational element, there are even bilingual picture dictionaries for kids like My First 100 Words. Books on Spain are of course great presents for adults as well. Here are ten of the best
 
For those that need cooling off!
Ranging from highly elegant to very kitsch indeed, fans (abanicos) are an essential feature of summer in Spain, and while Christmas might not seem like the ideal moment to give someone a Spanish fan, there’s bound to be someone who could do with some cooling off after a family meal, not least the cook after slaving over a hot stove.
Summers are getting hotter everywhere, so a Spanish fan can come in very handy. Photo: Alex Pascual Guardia/Flickr

For the fruity minded

From a farm in Valencia comes a truly original gift idea, and a much-needed boost of vitamin C, in the form of a box of fresh oranges delivered within hours of being picked from the tree. Naranjas del Carmen delivers across Europe. 

Need some oranges to fill that stocking? Valencia ones are the best. Photo: Naranjas del Carmen

For the art lover

Museum shops are a great place to buy a last-minute gift and a lasting memento of a favourite masterpiece. Whether it be a tie with emblems taken from Hieronymus Bosch’s Garden of Earthly Delights from the Prado, a Gaudi-style tiled paperweight, or even a tree decoration inspired by the disastrous restoration job of Ecce Homo

TERRORISM

Spain sees heightened terror risk amid global conflicts

Amid rising tensions and conflicts in Ukraine, Gaza and elsewhere around the world, a meeting by Spain's National Security Council has identified several threats to national security, some pre-existing and some new.

Spain sees heightened terror risk amid global conflicts

Global conflict and instability has raised the terror and security risk in Spain. This is what Spain’s National Security Council (CSN) has concluded following a meeting with government ministers on Tuesday to approve security reports and outline new anti-terror strategies. A 61-page document was compiled to replace the previous one approved in 2019 and will be valid for five years.

Among the topics discussed, which are outlined here on the National Security Council website, were the ongoing conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine and the heightened security threats they pose to Spain.

The war in Gaza, the Council states, presents “a real and direct risk” of an increase in “the terrorist threat, violent extremism and the emergence of new movements that promote a radical and violent ideology.”

READ ALSO: Spain could enforce conscription of ordinary citizens if there is war

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the document stresses, is also “a potential catalyst for terrorism”, as it “has led to an increase in the circulation of arms and explosives [in Europe], as well as the participation in the war of volunteer fighters of other nationalities”.

These uncertain global conditions could be exploited by groups or individuals “to undermine public security”, the document adds, and suggests that “state actors could carry out terrorist actions,” in what appears to be an allusion to the assassination of a Russian soldier in Alicante earlier in the year.

READ ALSO: Mystery surrounds death of Russian helicopter deserter in Spain

The meeting and report also outlined broader “risks and threats to national security” grouped into 16 categories, some older and long-established, some much more modern. They range from terrorism and violent radicalisation to the effects of climate change, space vulnerability, cyberspace, organised crime, migratory flows, foreign espionage and interference from abroad.

The CSN detects growing dangers to Spanish airspace, namely “events of commercial satellite launches from aerial platforms crossing controlled airspace, events of re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere of satellite launcher debris, uncontrolled hot air balloon overflights and an increase in drone overflights over military bases,” things that have all been noted in Spain in recent years.

In terms of terrorism, despite the conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine Islamic terrorism remains the greatest threat to Spanish security. “The repeated dismantling of the leaderships of Daesh and Al Qaeda has not succeeded in eliminating these groups, which act in a more decentralised manner than in previous years,” the report states.

During the period covered by the previous security strategy (2019-2023) “more than 110 [security] operations related to terrorism activities have been carried out,” more than 90 of which were linked to jihadist terrorism, the document details. Just 5 percent were linked to domestic terrorism.

Foreign spies operating in Spain were also highlighted as a threat. The CSN report stated that the decision to expel 27 Russian diplomats from Spain at the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 was useful in this regard. “These expulsions significantly reduced their ability to operate on European territory, which led to a notable decrease in the rate of activity of foreign intelligence services in Spain,” the report states.

READ ALSO: Judge in Spain extends probe into Catalan separatist’s ‘Russia ties’

However, the potential threat from the Kremlin is again mentioned as the driving force behind the barrage of hoaxes and disinformation campaigns. In the case of Spain, Moscow reportedly “focuses on trying to spread a distorted image of migration in the Mediterranean and the situation in Ceuta and Melilla”.

But it’s not just the Russians attempting to misinform the public in Spain. The report also points to “official Chinese media and their propagandists on social networks in Spanish have amplified many pro-Russian narratives”, with messages “based on expressing a rejection of the US and the current international order”.

The report lists 83 Russian disinformation incidents and 12 Chinese in the last year alone. Among these, several were aimed at “creating mistrust” in Spain’s electoral processes.

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