Where December Begins: The Old Town on the Eve of Constitution Day
By the first days of December, Valencia's old town is already lit for Christmas and loud with shoppers. Walk from Plaza del Ayuntamiento toward the Plaza de la Virgen and you pass stalls selling turrón, candied fruit and roasted chestnuts, the smell of sugar and hot oil drifting between the buildings. Constitution Day falls on 6 December, a national public holiday across Spain, and Valencia marks it the way Spanish cities do: with a long weekend, family meals, street life and a city that stays out late. The day itself is a fixed date on the calendar, so you can plan around it; the exact programme of municipal concerts and parades varies from year to year, so check visitvalencia.com, the city's official tourism site, for what is confirmed once you have your dates.
Markets and Sweet Stalls in the Christmas Season
The Christmas markets that fill Valencia's squares through December are the easiest place to spend a Constitution Day morning. You will find stalls selling marzipan figures, turrón, dried fruit and nuts, alongside crafts and gifts, in the centre of the city. This is also the season for the Mocadora tradition, which belongs to 9 October (National Valencia Day), when men give women a bundle of marzipan sweets wrapped in a handkerchief. The same marzipan — panellets, figuritas and sweets — is what you will see piled on December stalls, so it is a good moment to buy and taste it even if you miss the October custom.
- Head to the central squares around Plaza del Ayuntamiento and the old town for the Christmas market stalls.
- Buy turrón, marzipan sweets and roasted chestnuts — the standard December street food of the season.
- Keep an eye on visitvalencia.com for market opening dates and any Constitution Day programming.
Concerts, Processions and Public Celebrations
Valencia's public calendar gives you a strong sense of how the city celebrates. Constitution Day itself is a national holiday, and the city's squares and streets fill with people, but the specific concerts or parades for 6 December are not fixed in advance in the sources here — check the official programme before you travel. What you can rely on is the wider December atmosphere: lights, nativity scenes, and the run of Christmas events that the tourism board lists each year.
If your trip stretches beyond Constitution Day, the city's annual fixtures show what Valencia does best. The Feast of San Vicente Mártir on 22 January begins and ends with a morning procession at Valencia Cathedral. Las Fallas runs 1–19 March, opening with an explosion in the square in front of the city hall and ending at midnight on the last day, El Día de San José, when the giant caricature sculptures are burned. The Semana Santa Marinera processions run from Palm Sunday to Easter Saturday in the maritime neighbourhoods, with the Trenca de Perols — bells ringing and pots of mud thrown from windows — at midnight on Easter Saturday. Our Lady of the Forsaken, on the second Saturday and Sunday in May, brings a concert in Plaza del Virgen and fireworks along the old Turia riverbed, then an open-air mass at 05:00 and an afternoon procession with petals in the streets.
What to Eat, and Where to Find It
December in Valencia is a season of sweets and shared meals. The Christmas markets and confectioners' shops sell turrón, marzipan and candied fruit; the Mocadora tradition ties marzipan to the city's own customs. For a proper sit-down meal, the old town around Plaza de la Virgen and the streets off Plaza del Ayuntamiento are where you will find restaurants serving the Valencian staples — and if you are in the city later in the year, the July Fair, first held on 21 July 1871, is the month-long festival where local products and food are the point.
- Turrón and marzipan from market stalls and confectioners in the centre.
- Roasted chestnuts from street vendors on cold December evenings.
- Valencian dishes in the old town around Plaza de la Virgen.
A Neighbourhood and a Day Trip Worth Knowing
Base yourself in the old town, within walking distance of the Cathedral, Plaza de la Virgen and Plaza del Ayuntamiento — this is where the Christmas lights, markets and public celebrations concentrate, and where you can walk between them without needing transport. For a change of scene, the maritime neighbourhoods are worth a visit in their own right; they are the setting for the Semana Santa Marinera processions each spring, and they give you the city's sea-facing side.
Beyond the city, Valencia's calendar rewards a longer stay: the July Fair fills a full month with free and ticketed events, ending with the battle of flowers on the last Sunday, when women throw flowers from floats through the streets. If you can extend your Constitution Day trip into the following weeks, you will catch the Christmas season at its fullest — and if you return in spring, Las Fallas and the Semana Santa Marinera are the two spectacles that define the Valencian year.
Constitution Day is a fixed date, so start with 6 December and build a long weekend around it: book a room in the old town, check visitvalencia.com for the confirmed programme as your dates approach, and leave room in your plans for the markets, the lights and a late dinner. The city does the rest.