Stacker compiled a collection of new and classic Latin American songs for the holidays and the local traditions that inspired them.
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Mar Angélica Molina
Christmas is the longest and most rollicking birthday celebration in Latin America.
Santa Claus and Rudolph are supporting characters in pageantry where Joseph, a pregnant Mary, and the donkey they rode to Bethlehem take center stage. Stories derived from the Bible surrounding Jesus’ birth weave themselves into the folklore of the holiday season. And the 33 countries comprising Latin America boast hundreds of musical styles and genres that usher in the Yule with holiday spirit.
Latin American holidays have a different flavor, style, and appeal—and knowing just a little more about them can add a deeper layer of appreciation to a beloved season. Stacker compiled a collection of 17 contemporary and classic Latin American songs for the holidays and the local traditions that inspired them.
Sometimes, the starting point can be as unexpected and humble as the lowly donkey. The mule is at the heart of “El Burrito de Belén,” or “El Burrito Sabanero,” one of Latin America’s many cherished Christmas songs that will spice up the occasion. Written in 1972 by Hugo Blanco and popularized in 1975 by the Venezuelan children’s group La Rondallita, it’s considered a staple of any holiday playlist and an emblematic beginning to any dive into the holiday festivities of Latin America.
From bomba (Puerto Rico) and cumbia (Colombia) to norteño ballads (Mexico), Latin America’s musical diversity reflects not just each country but the various states (or municipalities or departments) found therein. Regional music can also reflect the unique ways each country celebrates the holidays.
Read on to learn about some Latin American Christmas classics and discover a few new favorites along the way.
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A starry, holy, and candle-lit night
In November 2024, musical power couple Camilo and Evaluna dropped “Navidad en cada esquina.” Part cover and part reimagining of “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas,” the song incorporates lyrics in a Spanish reference to La Noche de las Velitas, a Christmas custom specific to Colombia.
On Dec. 7, families light candles and lanterns at night and set them along streets, sidewalks, public squares, and elsewhere to create a twinkling urban landscape. Although rooted in a Catholic tradition honoring the Virgin Mary the night before the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, La Noche de las Velitas is well attended by believers and nonbelievers alike.
“Navidad en cada esquina” is not the only tune you’ll hear at Christmastime. Other popular Colombian tracks heard during La Noche de las Velitas include “Las Cuatro Fiestas,” composed by Adolfo Echeverría and performed by Diomedes Díaz. This vallenato cover of the 1961 original is a Colombian Christmas classic. It lauds four holidays: Noche de las Velitas, Christmas, New Year, and Carnival season before Easter begins.
Written by a cumbia Colombian composer José Barros and sung by Leonor González Mina, “Navidad Negra” pays homage to the fishers and the Indigenous communities along the Colombian Caribbean. And for a dose of boozy fun, “Ron Pa’ Todo el Mundo” by Joe Arroyo and Diomedes Díaz invites everyone to drink rum. Enough said.
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Nine days of Mexico’s Posadas
Posadas, celebrated in Mexico and parts of Central America, begins nine days before Christmas, typically on Dec. 16. It essentially reenacts Joseph and Mary’s journey to Bethlehem with people singing songs and asking to be let in, while another party plays the role of innkeepers that have no room. This back and forth goes on for a while until, finally, the host allows the people in what becomes a celebration filled with food, drink, and perhaps a piñata filled with candy for the children. Kick off Posada season with Lupita Infante’s 2024 remix of her ranchera-inspired “¡Navidad! ¡Navidad!“
Dating back to 1587, the Church and Spanish Crown used Posadas to convert the subjects of the New World to Catholicism. Originally, at this time of year, Aztec peoples celebrated the war god Huitzilopochtli, but those festivities were supplanted by Christian practices. Today, Las Posadas are considered a Mexican tradition, and “villancicos,” or carols, are part of the daily holiday processions.
Another Mexican pop track to consider for your Posada hang is “Campana Sobre Campana,” a bop performed by Yuri that’s both earnest and camp. “Navidad Sin Ti,” a well-known record by norteño icon Marco Antonio Solís that drips with nostalgia for a lost love. The studio version is good, but the live version is better. For those who need a reminder, Fito Olivares y su Grupo’s “El Colesterol” is a gentle, upbeat warning to enjoy the Christmas season—calories and all—but also to take it easy.
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Santa who? No one sleeps on Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve, or Noche Buena, is observed throughout Latin America, and it’s the ultimate intergenerational house party. It is the perfect occasion to play Mexican American DJ and producer Deorro’s 2024 bounce track “Querido Santa Claus” and get your abuela to put her walker away.
During Noche Buena, extended family, friends, and neighbors gather for food, drinks, and dancing. The festivities can last late into the night, building anticipation for the midnight celebration of Jesus’ birth. (That is, for anyone who isn’t at Midnight Mass.) During Noche Buena, salsa, bomba, and merengue is de rigueur. Couples spin, dip, and flaunt their best footwork to reach neighborhood icon status and be the goss of the block leading up to New Year’s Eve.
Another inspiring jam for your Noche Buena salsa party should be “El Cuerpo Me Pide,” a gem from Elvis Crespo right around his “Suavemente” days and Victor Manuelle, another New York-born merenguero. In “Bomba en Navidad,” genre-mixing musical duo Richie Ray & Bobby Cruz seamlessly incorporate bomba, a musical style specific to Puerto Rico and brought by Africans enslaved nearly 500 years ago, into this infectious beat.
Bonus: “No Hay Cama Pa’ Tanta Gente.” The lyrics read like an epic Yule adventure. El Gran Combo went to a Christmas party, lots of famous musicians showed up, and they all wanted to sleep over but there weren’t enough beds.
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Anos Viejos and Los Tres Reyes Magos
Año viejos, or monigotes, are life-sized dolls made of paper or fabric stuffed with fireworks. They symbolize the year that’s ending, the previous year’s misfortunes, and the hope for a glorious new beginning. They’re burned at midnight. Though common in various Latin American countries, the practice originated in Ecuador and is believed to be a product of the blended Indigenous and Spanish cultures, Odi Gonzales, a New York University professor of Latin American and Andean studies, told The New York Times.
Native peoples burned these dolls for purification and to rid themselves of epidemics. They also burned effigies of feudal lords. Records date the ritual to the 1800s, when the burnings culminated in a 10-day festival from Dec. 28, the Day of the Innocents, to Jan. 6, Three Kings Day.
“Quédate Conmigo Esta Navidad” is Puerto Rican singer ELENA’s 2023 pop ballad addition to the holiday canon. In Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic, Christmas extends into January, during which Three Kings Day is a prominent holiday. It’s considered the 12th day of Christmas and represents the end of the holiday season, commemorating the Three Kings’ visiting Joseph and Mary after Jesus’ birth. In the Dominican Republic, in particular, the holiday is just as important as Christmas.
Traditionally, on the eve of Three Kings Day, Puerto Rican and Dominican children leave water and bundles of grass under their bed for the King’s horses. In exchange, the children receive gifts—not from Santa but from the Kings, and not on Dec. 25 but on Jan. 6.
Other tracks for the Old and the New Years include July Mateo’s “Oye,” which encourages us to “enjoy the good things in life,” like a good friend, a new love, a beautiful song. There’s also Billo’s Caracas Boys and Cheo Garcia’s “Año Nuevo, Vida Nueva,” a Venezuelan guaracha similar to “Auld Lang Syne” of Latin America for being played as revelers clink champagne glasses as the clock strikes midnight.
Lastly, “Sólo Le Pido a Dios” is a perfect soundtrack for the festive occasion. Written in 1978, the unmistakable voice of Argentina’s Mercedes Sosa lifts this protest song into one that inspires hope, love, and resilience and asks God for an end to indifference.
Story editing by Carren Jao. Copy editing by Lois Hince. Photo selection by Lacy Kerrick.