Christmas in Valencia 2026–2027: markets, lights, New Year’s Eve and the Three Kings

The dates, addresses and opening hours below come from official sources and were checked on 19 October 2026. Valencia City Council usually publishes its full Christmas programme in November. Where there is no information for 2026 yet, we describe how things worked last season and say so clearly. We will update the article once the new programme is out.

At a glance: holidays and key dates 2026–2027

Constitution Day, 6 December, falls on a Sunday in 2026. The Valencian Community does not move the holiday to the Monday, so 7 December is a working day.

Christmas markets in Valencia: dates and opening hours

The traditional Navidad y Reyes market sets up around the Mercado Central building. The City Council has already confirmed its dates: 10 December 2026 to 4 January 2027, every day from 9:00 to 22:00. On Christmas Eve, 24 December, it stays open until 2:00. On 5 January, the eve of Three Kings Day, it runs from 9:00 until 5:00 on the morning of 6 January, for anyone still buying presents at the last minute.

The stalls sell toys, figures for Nativity scenes, garlands and table decorations, candles, streamers, New Year’s Eve party kits, tambourines, rattles and sweets. Look out for carbón dulce, a “sweet coal” made from sugar. Tradition says the Three Kings leave it instead of presents for children who have been naughty. In practice the good ones love eating it too.

The second city market, at Mercado del Cabanyal, is a short one: 3 and 4 January from 9:00 to 22:00, and 5 January from 9:00 to 5:00 the next morning.

Last season the big Christmas market at the City of Arts and Sciences (Ciutat de les Arts i les Ciències) stood on Paseo de Arbotantes by the Umbracle. It had 50 stalls and ran from 12 December to 6 January, 11:00 to 23:00. On 24 and 31 December it closed at 17:00, and on 25 December and 1 January it only opened at 17:00. The 2026 dates have not yet been announced on cac.es.

Last year Mercado de Colón hosted a fair of Nativity scene makers from 29 November to 8 December, and the Three Kings visited from 2 to 5 January.

Christmas lights, the tree, Nativity scenes and the ice rink

Valencia switches on its Christmas lights on Plaza del Ayuntamiento. In 2025 the switch-on was on Friday 21 November at 19:30, and the tree on the square was 25 metres tall. The lights stayed on until 6 January, every evening from 18:00 to midnight and until 3:00 on the main holiday nights. On Saturdays at 18:30 there was a short pyromusical show on the square, about three minutes long. The City Council has not yet named the 2026 switch-on date, so expect it in November.

A Nativity scene, or belén in Spanish, goes up in churches, shops and homes all over Spain. Last season the City Council put up life-size Nativity scenes on Plaza del Ayuntamiento and on Plaza de la Reina by the cathedral, from 2 December to 6 January. The municipal belén in the Salón de Cristal, a hall inside the City Hall building, was open from 2 December to 3 January with free entry. On weekdays it opened from 9:00 to 14:00, and from 20 December almost every day in the evening too, from 16:00 to 19:30. Mercado Central has its own Nativity scene under its dome, made by the craftsmen Ceballos y Sanabria.

The ice rink on Plaza del Ayuntamiento is run by the city centre traders’ association and is not part of the City Council programme. Last season it was open from 28 November to 6 January, 11:00 to 23:00, and a 30-minute session cost €10. Bring your own gloves.

Valencia at Christmas with kids

Small children in Valencia get their own New Year, in the daytime on 31 December. In 2025 a children’s party ran on Plaza del Ayuntamiento from 10:30 to 13:00, and at 12:00 the City Hall clock struck twelve for the children. It is an easy way to see in the New Year with little ones who will not last until midnight.

Over the last school holidays, from 26 December to 4 January, two events ran side by side: Expojove, a big children’s festival at the Feria València exhibition centre, and La Central de la Navidad, a free play area in Parc Central. The tree there was lit every evening at 18:00, and children could leave a letter for the Three Kings. If the programme is repeated, it makes a good plan for a weekday in the holidays.

Last season, from 24 December to 5 January, the Kings’ page and the royal postbox (Paje Real y Buzón Real) toured the city’s neighbourhoods from 10:00 to 14:00, collecting children’s letters. The City Council publishes the route for each day on valencia.es.

22 December: the Spanish Christmas lottery

Spain spends all of December waiting for the Christmas lottery (Lotería de Navidad). Colleagues club together for tickets at work, and people give them to relatives as presents. On the morning of 22 December the draw is on television, with children singing out the winning numbers. In 2026 the draw is on Tuesday 22 December. A tenth of a ticket, called a décimo, costs €20, and a single décimo on the top prize, El Gordo, wins €400,000. Tickets are sold at official Loterías y Apuestas del Estado outlets and on their website.

New Year’s Eve in Valencia

The main New Year’s Eve party in Valencia is on Plaza del Ayuntamiento. Here is how the night into 1 January 2026 was organised. The City Council usually announces the programme for the night in December.

The square was closed to everyone at 20:30, and people were let back in from 22:00. There were five entrances: from Marqués de Sotelo, Barques and Maria Cristina streets, from the Russafa boulevard and from the main post office side (Correus). Glass was not allowed, and 10,000 reusable cups were handed out at the entrances. DJs played from the City Hall balcony and the countdown began at 23:59. The clock struck midnight, and fireworks went up from the City Hall roof for 90 seconds. The party and music went on until about 1:45, with free entry.

The biggest fireworks of the night went up at the City of Arts and Sciences: nine minutes and almost 1,800 kilograms of pyrotechnics. There is a good view from the Turia Gardens and the nearby bridges.

The metro is the best way to get there and back. Last New Year’s Eve Metrovalencia ran without a break until morning. Trains kept their usual frequency until about 3:00, then ran every 40 minutes, or every 20 minutes on the underground sections. Tram lines 4, 6 and 10 ran all night, every 40 minutes. Check the EMT night bus timetable on emtvalencia.es closer to the date.

The twelve grapes

In Spain the New Year comes in with grapes. At midnight the clock strikes twelve times, and you eat one grape on each stroke. Get through all twelve and the year will be a lucky one. At home people usually watch the broadcast from Puerta del Sol in Madrid, while on the square in Valencia they eat their grapes to the City Hall clock. Small seedless grapes are the easiest. In late December supermarkets also sell ready-made tubs of twelve, called uvas de la suerte, “lucky grapes”.

You can also choose local grapes. The Vinalopó valley in the province of Alicante grows table grapes with a protected designation of origin, DOP Uva de Mesa Embolsada Vinalopó. Each bunch is wrapped in a paper bag while still on the vine and ripens inside it for at least 60 days. The main variety, Aledo, is a late one, picked in November and December, just in time for the holidays. Genuine DOP grapes carry a numbered label on the box.

5 and 6 January: Three Kings Day and the Cabalgata de Reyes

Spanish children get their main presents on the morning of 6 January. They are brought by the Three Kings, Melchor, Gaspar and Baltasar (los Reyes Magos). On the evening of 5 January children leave their shoes by the balcony or under the tree, with sweets for the Kings and water for the camels. Many families also give presents on 25 December, from Papá Noel, but 6 January is still the day children wait for.

On the evening of 5 January Valencia holds the Three Kings parade, the Cabalgata de Reyes. The City Council has not yet announced the 2027 times and route, only that it is recruiting participants. In January 2026 it went like this:

• At 16:30 the Kings arrived by sea at Marina Norte, on Plaza de la Sal, where stands were put up for spectators.
• At 17:30 the parade set off from the Puente de las Flores bridge. It passed through Porta de la Mar, along General Tovar and la Pau streets, across Plaza de la Reina and down San Vicente Mártir street to Plaza del Ayuntamiento.
• On the square the Kings paid homage to the Christ Child on a stage by the City Hall entrance. They climbed up to the balcony on a fire engine ladder, spoke to the children and then received them in the Salón de Cristal.

More than 1,300 people took part in the parade, and four tonnes of gluten-free sweets were handed out from the floats. Along the route 2,500 chairs were set out at €4 each, and big screens on the square showed the parade.

On 6 January people eat roscón de Reyes, a sweet bread ring with candied fruit, often filled with cream. A small figurine and a dried broad bean are hidden in the dough. Whoever finds the figurine wears the paper crown, and by tradition whoever gets the bean buys the roscón next year. Every bakery and supermarket sells it, but order a good one in advance.

What is open in Valencia over the holidays

On 25 December, 1 and 6 January most shops are closed, so buy food for the festive table the day before. Mercado Central opens Monday to Saturday from 7:30 to 15:00 and stays open longer before the holidays. In 2025 it was open until 16:00 on 22 December and until 18:30 on 23 December. Check this December’s hours on mercadocentralvalencia.es.

What is open, according to the venues themselves:

• Bioparc opens every day of the year. On 25 December and 1 January it opens at 11:00, an hour later than usual.
• At the City of Arts and Sciences the Museu de les Ciències and the Hemisfèric are closed on 25 December. The Oceanogràfic has special opening hours that day, listed in the calendar on its website.
• Museo de Historia de València is closed on 25 December, 1 and 6 January, and open from 10:00 to 14:00 on 24 and 31 December.
• Museo de Bellas Artes is closed on 25 December and 1 January, and open from 10:00 to 14:00 on 24 and 31 December.
• Museo de la Ciudad is closed on 24, 25 and 31 December and on 1 and 6 January.

Metro and bus timetables change over the holidays, so check metrovalencia.es and emtvalencia.es before you travel. Last year the City Council restricted car access to part of the centre in the evenings, from 17:00 to 22:00. This applied on 13 and 14 December, from 19 to 29 December except Christmas Day, and from 1 to 5 January. Over the holidays the metro is the easier way into the centre.

Getting out of the city over the holidays

The holidays are long, and the weather is good for walks. In December Valencia averages 17°C by day and around 8°C at night, with fewer than five rainy days in the month. January is a little cooler.

Down the coast, Alicante does Christmas its own way. The square outside the City Hall has the Nativity scene with the tallest figures in the world, a Guinness record, and New Year’s Eve is celebrated on the Rambla. Our guide “Christmas in Alicante 2026–2027” has the details.

At Montanejos, 90 km from Valencia, the river stays at 25°C all year round. You can swim there even in January, if the cold mountain air does not put you off.

The Algar waterfalls near Benidorm close at 15:30 in winter and do not open at all on 24, 25 and 31 December or on 1 and 6 January. The Canelobre cave near Alicante is closed on Mondays from September to June, and holiday opening hours are on turismobusot.com. For a day out, try the Mascarat canyon and the Greenwich marina, or the white town of Altea.

You can also see the New Year in on the coast. In Benidorm the party is on the Levante beach promenade, with fireworks over the sea and Big Ben at 1:00, and our guide to New Year’s Eve and Christmas in Benidorm 2026–2027 has the details.

Frequently asked questions

How does Valencia celebrate New Year’s Eve?

Out on the streets. The main party is on Plaza del Ayuntamiento, with music from the City Hall balcony, twelve strokes of the clock and a grape for each one, then fireworks. The biggest display goes up at the City of Arts and Sciences.

Where can you watch the New Year’s Eve fireworks in Valencia?

On Plaza del Ayuntamiento, where entry is free. Last year fireworks went up from the City Hall roof for 90 seconds as the clock struck midnight. People were let in from 22:00 through five entrances, and glass was not allowed. The biggest display, at the City of Arts and Sciences, is easy to see from the bridges over the Turia Gardens.

What are the public holidays in Valencia at Christmas 2026–2027?

The public holidays are 8 and 25 December 2026 and 1 and 6 January 2027, plus the local holiday on 22 January. Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve, 24 and 31 December, are working days. School holidays run from 22 December to 6 January.

Are there Christmas markets in Valencia?

Yes. The city market around Mercado Central runs from 10 December 2026 to 4 January 2027, from 9:00 to 22:00. Last season a large market with 50 stalls also ran at the City of Arts and Sciences, but its 2026 dates have not been announced yet.

When is the Three Kings parade in Valencia?

On the evening of 5 January. In 2026 the Kings arrived by sea at Marina Norte at 16:30. The parade left the Puente de las Flores at 17:30 and finished on Plaza del Ayuntamiento. The City Council will announce the 2027 times closer to the date.

Why do Spanish people eat 12 grapes at New Year?

One for each stroke of the clock at midnight, for luck in every month of the new year. Shops sell small seedless grapes for it, as well as ready-made tubs of uvas de la suerte.

What is the weather like in Valencia at Christmas and New Year?

According to AEMET, December averages 17°C by day and around 8°C at night. At midnight on the square it is damp and chilly, so bring a warm jacket.

What is open in Valencia on Christmas Day and New Year’s Day?

Most shops are closed. Bioparc opens at 11:00 on both days. On 25 December the Museu de les Ciències and the Hemisfèric are closed, and the Oceanogràfic keeps special hours. The city museums are closed on 25 December and 1 January.

Sources

• Generalitat Valenciana: 2026 public holidays (DOGV no. 10145, 7 July 2025), 2027 public holidays (DOGV no. 10329, 25 March 2026), 2026–2027 school calendar, Metrovalencia on New Year’s Eve
• Ayuntamiento de València: 2027 local holidays, Navidad y Reyes markets 2026–2027, New Year’s Eve 2025, fireworks, Cabalgata de Reyes 2026, Christmas lights 2025, municipal Nativity scene
• Visit València: Christmas market at the City of Arts and Sciences, ice rink, New Year’s Eve
• Ciutat de les Arts i les Ciències, Bioparc Valencia, Mercado Central, Museo de Historia de València
• Loterías y Apuestas del Estado: draw on 22 December 2026
• AEMET: 1981–2010 climate averages for Valencia
• Consejo Regulador DOP Uva de Mesa Embolsada Vinalopó