At Christmas Cadaqués holds its winter festival on 18 December, with Mass, sardanas and a dance; in 2025 there was Midnight Mass at 20:00, quina on Christmas afternoon and the Sant Silvestre race on the 31st. On 1 January people go up to the Cap de Creus lighthouse to watch the sunrise, at the Aplec del Sol Ixent.
At Christmas Cadaqués is a village of 2,906 residents with festivities of its own. There are no big productions: there is a winter festival a week before Christmas Eve, games of quina, a race on the 31st and a gathering at dawn on 1 January at the Cap de Creus lighthouse.
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What the weather is like in December and January
Meteocat has no station in Cadaqués; the nearest in its automatic network is at Roses. Taking its daily data from 2016 to 2025, December has an average high of 15.4 °C and an average low of 5.2 °C, and January 14.3 °C and 4.1 °C. The lowest reading in those ten Januaries was -3.8 °C, in 2021.
The wind is what matters. Counting days with northerly gusts of 50 km/h or more at Roses, December averages about seven and January about nine. What to do when the tramontana blows is in this guide.
The sea, according to the L'Estartit series published by Meteocat, averaged 14.5 °C in December 2025 and 13.6 °C in January 2026.
The winter festival, on 18 December
Cadaqués has two main festivals, and the winter one falls on 18 December, in honour of the Mare de Déu de l'Esperança, the village's patron saint, according to the tourism website. It is also one of Cadaqués' two local holidays in 2026, along with 20 January, according to the local holidays order published in the DOGC.
In 2025 the festival lasted four days. On the 18th there was a solemn Mass at 10:30 with carols, sardanas at 12:00 in Es Portal and a dance in the afternoon at the Sala l'Amistat; that day Dalí's house opened free for residents. On the 19th there was a night of concerts at the Es Quatre Camins sports hall, and on Sunday the 21st, a butifarra tournament (the card game), an omelette contest, a communal lunch at €20 for adults and a dance.
Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and the quina
In 2025 Midnight Mass was held on the 24th at 20:00 in the church of Santa Maria, and on the 25th there was Mass at 10:00. At 18:00 on the 25th came the traditional Gran Quina at El Casino. The quina is the Christmas game of chance that came before bingo: each player marks on their card the numbers called out by the «lloro», with sayings and jokes. On 6 January there was another, the Three Kings quina.
Between Christmas and New Year, in 2025 the Es Quatre Camins sports hall became a Christmas park for children from the 27th to the 30th, with bouncy castles, games and workshops, and on the 27th the Teatre Art i Joia put on El cant de la Sibil·la, vocal and instrumental music from the 16th century. On 5 December the Christmas lights were switched on, with carols and hot chocolate on the Passeig.
There was no Christmas market as such in the 2025 programme; there was, on the 30th, a second-hand market on the Passeig, Buidem ses golfes.
New Year's Eve and 1 January
The official 2025 programme did not list a New Year's Eve party organised by the town council. What there was on the 31st was the 20th Sant Silvestre, a 10 km fun run starting at 11:00 from the Passeig with short races for children, and theatre in the afternoon at the Art i Joia.
1 January is the day that belongs most to Cadaqués. The tourism website explains that people gather before dawn at the Cap de Creus lighthouse to watch the sun rise: it is the Aplec del Sol Ixent. In 2026 it was the 35th edition, meeting at 7:00, with sardanas and hot chocolate served by local people. At 13:00 there was a communal swim at Es Llané Gran beach, which moves to the platja d'en Ros if there is an easterly or onshore wind.
For December 2026, the Natural Park had not yet decided in October whether to restrict car access to the lighthouse road; check before going up. Sunrise times are in the Cap de Creus sunrise guide.
The Three Kings
In 2026 the Three Kings arrived on 5 January at 18:30 at the Riba d'Es Poal, by the sea. Two weeks later comes Sant Sebastià, on 20 January, with the walk up to the hermitage, which is told in this guide.
Public holidays and what's open
In Catalonia, the public holidays in 2026 are 8 December (Tuesday), the 25th (Friday) and the 26th (Saturday), and in 2027 1 January (Friday) and the 6th (Wednesday), according to the holiday calendars published in the DOGC. Cadaqués adds its two local holidays; those for 2027 had not yet been published in October 2026.
The Salvador Dalí House in Portlligat opens Tuesday to Sunday from 10:30 to 18:00 in November and December, always with booking. In 2026 it also opens on Monday 7 and Monday 28 December, closes on the 25th, and on the 24th last entry is at 13:30. In the 2026 calendar it closed on 1 January and from 7 January to 11 February; the 2027 calendar is not yet published (checked in October 2026).
The tourism office, on Carrer Cotxe, opens in December and January Monday to Saturday from 9:00 to 13:00 and 15:00 to 18:00, and is closed on Sundays. The Museu de Cadaqués, out of season, opens Monday and Wednesday to Saturday from 11:00 to 17:30 and Sunday from 11:00 to 14:00, with variable hours. What else closes in winter is in Cadaqués in winter.
Checked
Checked in October 2026 with: visitcadaques.org (December 2025 and January 2026 programmes, festivals and opening hours), the DOGC (holiday calendars and local holidays), Meteocat (daily data from Roses), Josep Pascual's L'Estartit sea temperature charts (meteolestartit.cat), the Gala-Salvador Dalí Foundation, Cap de Creus Natural Park, Idescat (2025 population register) and the Catalan Wikipedia (the quina). The averages are our own calculation from the official daily data for 2016 to 2025.
Quick questions
Is there a New Year's Eve party in Cadaqués?
The official 2025 programme did not list a New Year's Eve party organised by the town council. On the 31st there was the Sant Silvestre, a 10 km run at 11:00, and theatre at the Art i Joia.
Is there a Christmas market in Cadaqués?
There was no Christmas market as such in the official 2025 programme. On 30 December there was a second-hand market on the Passeig, Buidem ses golfes.
Is Dalí's house open at Christmas?
In 2026 it opens Tuesday to Sunday from 10:30 to 18:00, and also on Monday 28 December; it closes on the 25th, and on the 24th last entry is at 13:30. Always with booking.
What is the weather like in Cadaqués in December?
At Roses, the nearest Meteocat station, the average December high from 2016 to 2025 was 15.4 °C and the average low 5.2 °C.