Birthdays are celebrated uniquely depending on where in the world you are. Every culture and country has its own birthday traditions, setting them apart from the rest. These Spanish birthday traditions are fun, vibrant, and illustrate the love and joy that the Spanish people live their lives with.
Spanish Birthday Traditions Showcase a Love of Celebration
It is no great secret that the Spanish people are a culture of loving, charismatic human beings who love life, family, and celebrations. Birthdays encompass all of these things, and in Spain, birthday traditions allow them to take special care to make those having a birthday feel like the center of the universe. Spain's birthday traditions are vibrant, unique, and highlight the culture's warm and inviting disposition.
Celebrate With Song
Regardless of the birthday party theme, one common thing is bound to take place on this day of celebration: the singing of the song, Feliz Cumpleaños. Spanish people love to celebrate and shower loved ones with attention and affection on their birthday. One way to do this is with song. It would not be a birthday party if at least one round of the famous birthday jingle wasn't belted out by party guests.
Party With a Price Tag
In many parts of the world, it is a tradition for someone else to plan a birthday party and front the bill for the person celebrating another trip around the sun. In Spain, it is customary for the birthday girl or boy to pay for the costs related to their big day. If a Spanish birthday celebration is taking place at a restaurant, you won't fund everyone fighting over the check. It will go right to the birthday girl/boy, no questions asked.
The Best Presents Are Personal
When it comes to birthday gift-giving in Spain, the best gifts are the ones with thought and heart behind them. The focus on gifting places less emphasis on monetary value and more emphasis on the meaning of the gesture. Many times a handmade card of guests simply sharing in the day of celebration is just as valued as an expensive item, it not more valued.
Spaniards also often go in together on birthday gifts, and joint presents are common in this area of the world.
Birthday Celebrations Frequently Include Family
Family is everything to the Spanish people, and a birthday celebration would not be complete without family members surrounding the guest of honor. It is a common tradition to hold a birthday party for friends and colleagues and then a second birthday for only cherished family members.
The Big Day Is Sometimes Celebrated on a Different Day
In many parts of the world, birthdays are celebrated on the day a person was born. In Spain, the day of a birthday celebration does not always correlate with the day of birth. It isn't uncommon for a birthday party to be celebrated on a different day, especially if the family lives far away. It is commonplace for families to gather and celebrate birthdays on a weekend.
Birthday Affection Centers With Face
Different parts of the world say, "Happy Birthday!" in various, unique ways. One of the most interesting birthday traditions in Spain centers around the face. Spaniards pull on the ears of the birthday/girl or boy to commemorate their special day. They give one tug of the ear for every year of age, plus one extra tug for good luck.
Birthdays in Spain Are Days of Love
The underlying birthday celebration theme among the Spanish is love. This is a culture of people who cherish their friends and family and take any opportunity to shower them with affection and admiration. Birthdays are days to honor the special people in their lives in unique ways. No one celebrating a birthday in Spain will ever end the day feeling anything but special.
