Three Kings Day and Parade

The feast of the three kings, also known as Epiphany, is on January 6. This is a huge celebration for Spanish families, because it is the day children receive their Christmas gifts. Christmas Day is usually a day to share a huge meal with family, but the gifts are exchanged on January 6. Spanish children do not celebrate Santa. Instead, it is the three kings from the Bible who brought gifts to baby Jesus that continue to bring gifts to Spanish children. In the weeks leading up to Three Kings’ Day, figures dressed as one of the kings will appear at malls and town centers for photo opportunities. Children write letters to the three Kings, then a Royal Postman collects and delivers them by ship. On January 5, each local town has a Three Kings’ parade, where the figures move through town on floats and throw candy to children. Correction: they pelt children with tons of candy. It can actually hurt! But the Spanish children love it, and it is a fun celebration. Depending on what day January 6 falls, the Spanish typically have several days off work for this holiday.

The above paragraph is an excerpt from my book, 'Welcome to Rota,' which has a section outlining all the Spanish holidays, and explaining how each is celebrated. The book can be ordered by clicking on the Welcome to Rota image on the top left of this blog.

Holiday celebrations are often the same in each town, and that is the case for the Three Kings' parades. On January 5, each town has their own parade, so you can choose to go to Rota, Puerto, Jerez, Chipiona, etc. The larger the town, the larger the parade (and the larger the crowds). Because Spanish crowd 'ettiquette' usually involves more pushing and shoving than Americans are prepared for, we prefer the smaller celebrations in Rota and Chipiona. Rota's is very convenient-- you can go to the Mary circle, just outside the Rota gate, and wait for the parade anywhere along the circle. The parade will reach the circle around 5:30 PM when it starts near the harbor at 5 PM.

The parade is a lot of fun! Children and adults line the streets with bags, waiting for candy and gifts to be thrown at them. The candy, caramellos, is usually hard candy, so when they throw it off the floats into the crowd, it can potentially hurt small children! I made sure the baby stroller's cover was up, and turned away from the street, so she wouldn't get hit... but she was still a little afraid of the candy raining down around her! 

There are several floats -- and also a marching band--proceeding the Kings. Each float has a different theme or character (like Spongebob, pictured here, or Ratatouille) and many play children's music from Disney shows. On the floats are many children, and also older girls damas (princesses) who have the exciting job of waving and throwing candy into the crowd.

Finally,   the parade concludes with the Kings' floats. Each King is on their own float, and they throw better candy and sometimes small toys like soccer balls into the crowd. The Kings are always distinguished by their hair (wig) color: Caspar has a white beard, Melchior has a gold beard, and Baltazar is black. To be completely accurate, Baltazar is usually a Spanish person wearing blackface. This is surprising to Americans, but does not have any racial significance in Spain, where Africans have not had a strong presence in the country since the 1400's.

The parades are a great family event, and I hope you get to attend one while you are here! To find schedules for the parades in local towns, go to each town's tourism page, or search for 'cabalgata de reyes.' Happy Three Kings' Day everyone!