Christmas Eve on Tenerife, grilled over a rusty oil drum

Von Marlis Zoschke

Our holiday had to be postponed from November to December. And so we ended up in Tenerife over the festive season. As soon as we arrived, we were invited to a Christmas dinner. I’ll never forget what awaited us there.

Grandmother had treated us to a pig, and with such a large family, the sudden arrival of two more people was no problem at all. On Christmas Eve morning, I could still hear the poor pig squealing and running about somewhat agitatedly in a pen. A short while later, it was lying on a board and a hard-working neighbour began to remove the bristles with a razor.

I was curious to see how Christmas Eve is celebrated. After all, Spaniards are devout Catholics. Grandma goes to Mass every morning at 6 o’clock, so we were looking forward to experiencing something more or less new.

A different sort of Christmas Eve: a barbecue on Tenerife

Dinner was due to take place in the early evening, because whenever we were invited round, we always ate earlier and earlier. Over the years, our friends have also got used to not eating too late in the evening and not eating quite so much.

When we arrived at Pablo’s, we were quite taken aback. Standing before us were Pablo and a rusty barrel. Pablo was wearing short gym shorts and had his top off. I’d never seen him like that before. It was the ‚barbecue master‘ outfit. And the barbecue? It was the rusty barrel, which was billowing smoke terribly. There was no sign of the food being barbecued.

Fun and festivities on Christmas Eve in Tenerife – and back home?

Back then, the portions of meat were always huge and too much for us to manage. The table for the large group – about 30 people – had been set up in an old shed. There were no Christmas decorations like we have at home.

Everything was new, but we knew each other so well that I plucked up the courage to ask: ‚Does everyone here celebrate Christmas like this? And what about presents on Christmas Eve?‘ I was told that, for the locals, this day wasn’t all that important. Much more important, they said, was 6 January, the Feast of the Epiphany. That’s when presents are given.

Christmas Eve on Tenerife was more like Carnival

We all ate well and had a great time. The day was more like Carnival. However, instead of throwing sweets, people threw coins. It wasn’t exactly a quiet affair – the excellent wine certainly played its part in that.

I often think back to that time. And I wish we could have a Christmas Eve just as much fun here. That certainly wouldn’t go amiss, especially these days.