Christmas Quines in the Empordà

Christmas has arrived, and this in the Empordà means… Quines!

Many towns organize their own quines and for this reason we bring you the definitive guide to the best Quines that are celebrated during this Christmas season.

What’s a Quina?

They are traditional celebrations organised by each village. It’s a game similar to the typical bingo game during Christmas dates, in which people of the village and its surroundings get together and can win amazing prizes.
Each person can participate by buying a cardboard, or as many as they want, in which there are numbers placed in three columns and five rows. The cardboard must be marked with grains of corn each time their number appears (like bingo).

Alert! If you see older people with dominoes to mark numbers, be careful because they are Quina professionals.

Depending on each Quina there can be different prizes. These are given when someone is the first to mark all the numbers in a row and, the biggest prize is given to the first person who completes all the cardboard before anyone else. When you are the lucky person in the whole pavilion you must shout “MACHINE! In total 10 Quines are celebrated every day.

The funniest thing is to see how people come together and experience the magic of this game, even if they don’t win any prizes. And above all, listen to how they recite the numbers with funny songs.

If you want to participate in a Quina, here is a list of some of the most important organized by each town:

– Cadaqués
22^nd and 25^th December at 6 pm
6^th January at 5 pm

– Castelló d’Empúries:
22^nd December at 5 pm
27^th December at 6 pm

– Cistella:
1^st, 8^th and 25^th December at 7 pm
1^st January at 7 pm

– L’Escala
22^nd, 25^th, 26^th and 29^th December at 6 pm
1^st and 6^th January at 6 pm

– Garrigàs:
21^st, 25^th and 28^th December at 9 pm
26^th December at 7 pm
1^st and 6^th January at 7 pm
4^th January at 9 pm

– Llançà
22^nd and 25^th December at 7 pm
6^th January at 7 pm

– Llers:
22^nd 25^th, 26^th and 29^th December at 7 pm
1^st and 6^th January at 7 pm

– Maçanet de Cabrenys
25^th and 28^th December at 7:30 pm

– Palau-Savardera:
21^st and 25^th December at 7 pm
22^nd, 26^th and 29^th at 6:30 pm
1^st January at 7 pm
4^th January at 9 pm

– Peralada
22^nd, 25^th, 26^th and 29^th December at 8 pm
1^st and 6^th January at 8 pm

– Portbou
22^nd and 29^th December at 7 pm
25^th and 26^th December at 7:30 pm
4^th January at 7:30 pm

– Roses:
21^st December at 4:30 pm (Quina for kids)
22^nd, 25^th, 26^th and 29^th December at 6:30 pm
1^st and 6^th January at 6 pm