The reyes magos, the Three wise men, are the symbol of Spanish Christmas. They visit everybody’s houses on the night of January 5th to deliver presents… or coal?
The three wise men, or three kings, traveled to Bethleehem to deliver gifts to Baby Jesus- gold, frankincense and myrrh. They reached Jesus on the 6th, marking the Epiphany. Spain remains a very catholic country and it has only been relatively recently that they have started celebrating ‘Santa Claus’ on the 25th December. A traditional Spanish family will have their Christmas day on January 6th as Jesus did.
Naturally, traditions have developed and now, in Spain the night of the 5th and the 6th January mark a very fun and exciting time for kids and adults alike. On the night of the 5th the Three Kings, Melchor, Gaspar and Baltasar, take part in a parade which travels through the whole town or city. The parade is lots of fun, it consists of the Three Kings floats with their helpers, live music as well as other floats with different themes, normally associated with kids, like Disney characters or superheroes. The star of the show is the thousands of sweets and gifts thrown at the children in the crowd. Disclaimer; watch your head with the hard sweets! No matter where you are in Spain, you will have a local ‘Reyes Magos’ parade and we thoroughly recommend going to see it.
After the parade, kids will head home and go to bed dreaming of the gifts they will receive the next day. However, unlike Santa, there is no naughty or nice list, so what happens to the naughty kids? The children who have been bad, will receive coal. Another special addition to the Three Kings celebration is the roscon de reyes. This is the traditional cake eaten these two days- click here to read about the history and ins and outs of this famous pastry.
Overall, it is an incredibly fun couple of days, full of laughter and sweets. It is typical for foreign families like myself to celebrate Christmas Day but save some tokens for the Three King’s Day. Watch our latest episode of Good Morning Spain for more on the Reyes Magos.
