In English-speaking countries, ‘Friendsmas’ is now a well-established way of celebrating Christmas among friends, whether as an addition to family gatherings or an alternative to them. In its decorating pages, Real Homes presents it as freedom in place of tradition: more colour, unexpected ornaments and neon lighting.
Mediterranean culture, with its stronger roots in tradition and family, might find its own equivalent in something like an ‘Erasmus Christmas’: a celebration shared with the family you create with friends, flatmates, colleagues and people from different backgrounds, with the shared flat becoming home.
This diversity naturally finds its way into the Christmas decorations, creating a deliberately eclectic mix. No palette. No rules. It works precisely because the different elements come together without having to match; throwing themes, colour schemes and the need for perfect coordination out of the window. Everyone brings something: an ornament, a recipe, a custom or a memory from home. Together, they create a different kind of Christmas, one in which the celebration wins out over the setting, hands down.
Lanzarote has two Christmases running side by side. One belongs to the largely local population and remains centred on the traditional family gathering. The other belongs to a diverse community of Europeans, mainland Spaniards and Latin Americans: people who have built close ties through work and circumstance far from home. The family you are given and the family you build, coming together at Christmas.
