The Festival of the three Magic Kings

Christmas in Spain is celebrated on 6 January - Epiphany, or in Spanish ‘Fiesta de Los tres Reyes Mages’ (The festival of the three Magic Kings) and celebrates when the Kings/Wise Men brought gifts to the baby Jesus. Christmas in Spain is not as commercialised, like it is in the UK and trees and decorations are minimal. The traditional day for giving presents is 6 January, although children may receive some gifts on Christmas day.

Early evening on 5 January, families come out onto the streets to watch a parade of floats.  The floats carry the 3 Kings (Baltasar, Melchior and Gaspar) along with other brightly coloured floats that are inspired by children’s characters and are accompanied by bands.  Sweets are thrown from the floats to all who come out to watch.  These sweets are hard boiled and there was a lot of ducking and diving to avoid being hit on the head or in the face.  I can imagine health and safety in the UK would have a lot to say about this!!

These parades take place all over Spain and every town has its own version.  We ventured in to Huelva to watch one - about 15kms from Punta Umbría.

Magic Kings Parade, Huelva

Magic Kings Parade, Huelva

In the centre of Huelva is a statue of the famed Italian explorer Christopher Columbus or Cristóbal Colón, as he is known in Spain.  He set sail from the port of Huelva in 1942 with the Santa Maria and 2 smaller ships to discover the ‘New World’ of the Americas - an expedition sponsored by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain.

Christopher Columbus Statue

The Magic Kings day was a busy day, as all the families visit each other’s houses to receive their presents.  I think Chico, Adam and Melissa's dog gave up waiting for his and fell asleep sitting up!

After present giving we went out for a family meal.

Needless to say, a lot of food and drink was consumed -  as is the tradition in Spain!

Sally x