CHRISTMAS is a magical time of year, but it can also be the most stressful.

In the run-up to the hectic festive season, we decided to relax and enjoy this time of year Spanish-style, with a trip to the PortAventura theme park just outside Salou.

A popular destination in the summer months with us Brits, the park has an average of 30,000 visitors per day during the peak season.

It is the third largest theme park in Europe and hosts the Shambhala roller coaster - Europe's highest.

At this time of year though it is much quieter, and with temperatures of 20 degrees and little queuing, it is probably one of the best times to visit.

There are four hotels scattered across the park. We stayed in the PortAventura Hotel - the perfect choice for children with its Woody the Woodpecker themed rooms - which has direct access. Not all of the hotels are open at this time of year and this one is only open at the weekends.

The park is split into six themed areas. For younger visitors, there is Sesame Street land with all the familiar characters, including Bert and Ernie.

The park also has an abundance of food outlets and shops, in addition to numerous daily shows.

During our stay, we went to see the ice dance show which was full of dancing Christmas characters and my daughter Mia loved it.

I am not one for fairground rides but after travelling all this way I felt I needed to let my guard down.

My son Ben and I decided to try the Furius Baco ride, a horizontal catapult which is the fastest roller coaster in Europe, racing to 83mph in just 3 seconds. Of course I didn't know this beforehand - and I am glad we did it before lunch.

Speaking of lunch, we stepped into the Far West area to dine in the The Iron Horse restaurant.

A quirky building, one you would see in Western movies, the food was lovely and service was very good. This area of the park was our favourite - despite being soaked in the Grand Canyon rapids, which we enjoyed so much we went twice.

After lunch, we took a stroll round the rest of the park taking in all the wonderful Christmas fun with a few more rides thrown in but there is so much going on its hard to fit it all in.

As our day came to an end we watched the Christmas parade which concluded with a fireworks display. It was the perfect end to the perfect day.

If you are in the area for your summer holidays, its a must visit for its water park, too. Or even if you are in Barcelona for a city break, it is only an hour's drive away.

Sadly it was time to leave, but we enjoyed our Spanish festive experience - Feliz Navidad.