A home for Christmas

Walk the high streets of the UK for most of the year and you run a gauntlet of Greggs Bakery aromas, death wish pigeons grown fat and bold on last night’s kebab shop detritus, and the creeping advance of Cash for Gold-type stores.

At Christmas, though, it’s a different story. Enforced manufactured panic grips the nation, punctured intermittently by the cinnamon calm only an overpriced mulled wine from one of those increasingly fake and garish German markets can deliver.

The whole nation goes ever-so-slightly mad at Christmas. The spending, the drinking, the eating, the stressing – it’s all quite a lot to take, which is why a romanticised notion of ‘home’ has begun to take centre stage in recent years.

The country’s largest retailers fall over themselves to rush out the most fey, twee, mawkish and downright patronising Christmas advert each year, where outdoing last year’s effort is seen as the overarching priority, with no expense spared.

Why the recent sea change? It’s probably got a lot to do with the recession. A few years ago, Christmas was all about em-blinging oneself at the fanciest parties, dressing in the most deranged and dazzling outfits and guzzling down more expensive liquid than a boy racer’s Humvee.

Post-recession, the emphasis is now on enjoying the home with the family. Supermarkets have been loving this particular evolution, and have really cranked up the store wars this year with their adverts, deals and general we-will-sell-you-anything-you-ask-us-to sucking up that would put a Labrador puppy to shame.

But the message is, at least this year, spot on. Christmas really should be a time for the family. A time to enjoy being at – or going – home. A time to relax and be thankful for what you have. And, yes, a time for indulgence.

The Brits may only be cottoning on to this fact now, but the Spanish have known this for years. Christmas in Spain is more family-focused than an episode of Family Fortunes – it’s a time to gather the entire extended family together to enjoy excellent food and wine, and forget about work and image and consumerism and all that malarkey for the time being.

Brits who have moved to Spain often remark how refreshingly low-key the festive period is. There’s no frenzied build up; no race for Christmas Number 1; and few specially commissioned crimbo ads or ‘Limited Edition’ Yuletide produce.

The Spanish enjoy Christmas just like they do everything else – their own way, and to hell what mass-market consumerism tells them.

So if you fancy enjoying a calmer Christmas next year, why not make the dream a reality by buying a property in Spain? Not only is now a perfect time to buy, but just think – by next Christmas you could swap stress for sunshine, needless expense for top-quality food, and tailbacks for laidback days with your loved ones gathered round.

Christmas in Spain is a true miracle – so what are you waiting for? Get searching for that dream home in Spain right away!