The family arrives at nine on the 24th. Or better still: the Saturday before, half the street is in your patio for the zambomba, with carols and a table full of pestiños. And the week before is exactly when you have the least time, between shopping, work and office dinners.
Leaving it all to the last day doesn’t work. Spreading it out does. Here’s a week-by-week cleaning plan, what guests notice first, how to get the patio ready if you host a zambomba at home, and what to do once the parties are over.
A cleaning plan to reach Christmas without the stress
The idea is simple: anything that takes long or needs to dry, early; anything that gets dirty in two days, at the end.
| When | What to do |
|---|---|
| 4 weeks before (late November) | Sofa, mattresses and rugs; windows and blinds; any wardrobes you’ll need |
| 2–3 weeks before | Deep kitchen clean (oven, hood, fridge); limescale in bathrooms; lights and high-up dust |
| The week before | Guest room; dinnerware and table linen; clear the entrance and living room |
| The day before | Bathrooms, floors, kitchen and a quick dust |
| On the day | Rubbish out, guest bathroom with clean towels, and air the house |
If you only do one thing early, make it the sofa. It’s where everyone will sit and, if it’s machine-cleaned, it needs a few hours to dry. In early December that’s easy; on the 23rd, it isn’t.
What guests notice first
The whole house doesn’t need to be perfect. The places people pass through do:
- The entrance. A clean doormat, shoes put away, a coat rack with space for coats. It’s the first thing people see and the last thing that usually gets cleaned.
- The guest bathroom. Basin and mirror without marks, a spotless toilet, plenty of paper, a clean towel in sight and an empty bin. If the shower screen has limescale, it shows; we explain how to remove limescale from a shower screen.
- The living room and sofa. Dust off the furniture and the TV, cushions plumped, and a sofa with no stains or smells.
- The table. An ironed tablecloth, glasses without limescale marks and shining cutlery. It shows more than you’d think.
- The kitchen, especially if people end up there, as they do in almost every home. A clear worktop, a clean sink and an empty bin before you start.
- The smell. A home that smells stuffy looks dirty even when it’s clean. Air it well before anyone arrives.
With those six in order, the house feels cared for. The rest can wait until January.
If you host a zambomba at home
Zambombas are Christmas in Jerez. They’re held in December, the season ends with the ones in the street on the morning of the 24th, and they began precisely in shared neighbourhood patios and on country estates, around a fire. Since 2015 the Andalusian government has recognised them as a Bien de Interés Cultural, a protected cultural asset.
If it’s your turn to host in your patio, here’s what to get ready:
→ The patio floor. Swept and mopped a few days ahead, so it’s dry. If it’s terracotta or old tile, be careful with products: our guide to cleaning Andalusian tiles and patios explains what to use and what not to.
→ Plant pots and walls. Remove dead leaves, clean the saucers under the pots and go over the skirting, which gets dirty quickly in a whitewashed patio.
→ Chairs and tables. Clean and dry. If it rains in the days before, keep them under cover.
→ A free bathroom for guests, with plenty of paper, soap and a hand towel you can swap halfway through the evening.
→ Somewhere for coats and bags, away from the kitchen.
→ Bins within reach, with bags, in the patio and in the kitchen. If there’s room to keep glass separate, you’ll be glad of it the next day.
And on the night of the zambomba, before you go to bed, clear away anything that could cause damage: glasses with wine left in them, plates with oil or syrup, and lit candles. Everything else can wait until the morning.
The guest room
If someone is staying over, get it ready a few days ahead:
- Clean bed linen and an extra blanket. On December nights, Jerez’s older houses get cold.
- An aired mattress. Take off the cover, open the window for a while and, if the mattress hasn’t been used for a while, vacuum it.
- Space in the wardrobe, even if it’s just a few hangers and an empty drawer.
- Folded towels on the bed or a chair, so guests don’t have to ask.
- Dust on bedside tables, lamps and the top of the wardrobe, which builds up in a room that’s hardly used.
A small touch people appreciate: a free socket by the bed to charge a phone.
After the parties: stains, wax and floors
Parties leave traces. The key is to act quickly and not to rub.
- Red wine. Blot with absorbent paper, without rubbing, from the outside in so the stain doesn’t spread. Then cold water. Hot water can set it.
- Candle wax. Let it cool and harden, lift off what you can with a plastic spatula or a card, and what’s left can usually be removed with absorbent paper on top and gentle heat.
- Grease and oil. On fabric, a few drops of washing-up liquid diluted in water, then rinse. On terracotta floors, as soon as possible, because terracotta absorbs.
- Turrón and chocolate on the sofa. Carefully lift off the solid part without pressing it in, then treat what’s left with very little water.
If the stain is on the sofa or a delicate fabric, don’t improvise. Our guide to removing sofa stains covers what to try at home and when it’s better to leave it alone.
For floors, sweep or vacuum well first (at a zambomba, sand from the patio and the odd pestiño crumb always come in) and then mop. If you mop without sweeping, you just move the dirt around.
What to do next
If this year you’d rather not spend the days before Christmas cleaning, at Hola Limpio we provide home cleaning in Jerez de la Frontera, El Puerto de Santa María, Cádiz, Puerto Real and Rota: a deep clean in early December and a touch-up before your guests arrive, or a clean after the parties. We also offer sofa and mattress cleaning at home with hot water extraction machines, and it’s dry within a few hours.
In December almost everyone wants their home ready in the same few weeks, so if you already know which days suit you, it’s best to book them early. Work out a guide price with our quote calculator or message us on WhatsApp on +34 604 82 90 44 with the dates you have in mind.
Frequently asked questions
How far ahead should you clean your home before Christmas?
It's easiest to spread it over about four weeks. Anything that takes long or needs drying time (sofa, mattresses, windows, a deep kitchen clean) is best done in early December or before, leaving only touch-ups for the last week: bathrooms, floors, kitchen and the guest room.
What do guests notice first in a home?
The entrance, the bathroom they'll use, the living room and the sofa they'll sit on, and the kitchen if people gather there. With those areas spotless, the whole home looks clean, even if you haven't had time for everything else.
When are the zambombas held in Jerez?
Zambombas are held in December, and the season ends with the ones held in the street on the morning of the 24th. They began in shared neighbourhood patios and on country estates, and since 2015 the Andalusian government has recognised them as a Bien de Interés Cultural (a protected cultural asset).
How do I get candle wax off a tablecloth or the sofa?
Let the wax cool and harden, then carefully lift off what you can with a plastic spatula or a card. What's left can usually be removed by laying absorbent paper over it and applying gentle heat. On delicate upholstery, test somewhere that doesn't show first, or leave it to a professional.