CHRISTMAS IN YOUR NEW COUNTRY: THE 3 WISE MEN - LOS REYES MAGOS

One thing that we find funny we lived in UK was that the Christmas tree was up in some places in August, and you were bombarded with Christmas stuff for months and months. However, come 26th December Christmas is suddenly over, without prior warning: no decoration, no lights, no more Christmas spirit. 

As explained before, Christmas in Spain ends on 6th of January, the 12th day of Christmas.

You need to remember that Christmas is supposed to be the celebration of Jesus, the son of God in the Christian religion, and as such we also celebrate the day when the 3 wise men visited Jesus on his crib and brought him presents: gold, incense and myrth.

These guys came from far, far away, and arrived at Bethlehem to see Jesus by following a bright start in the sky.

We call them Los Reyes Magos de Oriente (the Magic Kings of Orient), and their names are Melchor, which has a white beard, Gaspar, which has a brown beard, and Baltasar, which is the black one, and can have (or not) a beard.

Same as with Santa in UK, there are grottos where children can speak with the 3 Kings and give them their letters. Spanish favourite King is Baltasar. I base this statement in years and years of going to grottos and seeing than the queue for Baltasar is double as Melchor and triple's Gaspar. So I have made my mission that my children's favourite one is Gaspar, as it means less time waiting in the cold!

Every 5th January evening the Kings go on a parade in your town. Because they are magical, they can be in your town, your cousin's town, your friends' town and also in Madrid on TV at the same time (kids are soooo gullible!).

In this said parade there are plenty of floats with different cartoon characters as well as 3 big floats for the 3 wise men. Each one of the floats and the people walking within the parade give away sweets, so all children bring a big bag which will end up full to the brim with sweets.

But when I say they give away sweets I should specify that they throw them away. With force. Aiming at your head. It is a good idea to bring a helmet ...

At night time kids have to go early to bed, same as with Santa, and they need to prepare some food for the Reyes and also for the camels. 

But the most important thing that cant forget to do, is to leave a very clean shoe in the living room, as the 3 Kings will know where to leave the presents for each member of the family depending on the shoe. NO SHOE MEANS NO PRESENTS!

And they have been known to leave charcoal on naughty children's shoes, so it is imperative that you behave your best! (dont worry, it is edible)

Have fun and enjoy the day!