My students told me before I left for break that they not only celebrate Santa Clause on the 25th, but also the three wise men or “los reyes” on the sixth of January. They believe that the kings come to their house at midnight and leave presents. Basically, Spaniards have it lucky and get gifts twice over winter break!! Now that is a tradition I must bring back to the states (other than siesta time). On January 5th, there is a huge festival for “los reyes” and all these kids and their parents go to puerta do sol to wait for them. Kids were beaming with light at their arrival as they made their way towards the stage. Los reyes talked about how they would be going to the kid's houses that night and leaving gifts for all of them. They said to leave water for their camels and food for them to eat so they would have the energy to keep going. They reminded kids to always be good to their parents, work hard in school, and be well behaved. I thought this was a really neat tradition. These kids believe in the kings because they physically appear and speak to them and let them know what’s going on. At the end of the speech the kings held up the “magic key” that is supposed to open the door to all their houses so that they can leave gifts. A big parade followed the speech where floats came by and people played music and danced down the street. Families and kids sat on the floats and threw candies into the crowd. Everyone in the crowd held plastic bags hoping to catch as many candies as they could. Any candy that fell on the floor was fair game, and kids fought to get it. I could not stop laughing because the kids on the floats throwing the candy threw it so aggressively, knocking parents on the head, hitting children on their chests. It was hilarious to watch. Overall, I thought it was a really cool tradition, and the parade was so much fun. Events like these remind me how much value Spain puts on tradition and how much family means to them.
Yours truly,
TLT
Yours truly,
TLT