28.01.2010

[disponible ici en français]

While many countries are probably done with the end of year celebrations, and thus many people are already back to work/school, here in Spain things work differently.

Spain celebrate three important dates (when we for example in France celebrate only two):
- Christmas: 24/25 of December
- New Year’s Eve / New Year: 31st/1st of January (more on this soon)
- The Day of the Kings  (El Dia de los Reyes): 5th/6th of January

The Day of the Kings is in celebration of the Three Wise Men (or Three Kings, or Magi) – in french, Rois Mages; in spanish, Los Reyes Magos. Remember the story: the three kings are the three person said to have come from the East to visit Jesus after his birth, bringing gifts (gold, incense and myrrh) with themselves.

Reyes Magos

Reyes Magos

Here in Spain, the Kings are commonly said to bring the presents to kids on the 5th of January (i.e. on the eve of Epiphany) while they are sleeping, and the morning after they open them. Well, like for Christmas, if they haven’t been good kids, they don’t receive anything but carbon… which is usually symbolized by a sweet with a carbon color.

Adults also receive gifts, but not in the same way!

Roscon de Reyes

That week is vacations for the kids (yes, they have 3 week vacations at Xmas time), and 6th of January is a bank holiday for those who work. A typical spanish family would all gather to have a Roscon de Reyes, a cake supposed to look like a royal crown (rosca is crown in english), and tasting like brioche, with crystallized fruits on top(fruits confits), that are supposed to symbolize the crown jewels. Very often there is whipped cream in the inside. People usually drink it with a mug of hot chocolate.
Roscon de Reyes

Roscon de Reyes

In the tradition, this cake is filled with a true dried broad bean (une vraie fève, le légume), and a Christian figure representing one of the Three Kings. The person that finds the bean has to pay the Roscon the year after; and the person that finds the figure is the king and will be crowned with the carton crown that usually comes with the cake if you buy it in a bakery or a shop.

Cabalgata de los Reyes

The other important moment of this Day of the Kings is the Cabalgata de los Reyes (in spanish). A big parade of floats (chars) going from Nuevos Ministerios square to Plaza de Cibeles (the most famous square of Madrid).

Los Reyes is a family party, so without much surprise at the parade there are a lot of kids and their family. This year, the parade is celebrating the International Year for the Rapprochement of Cultures, and to do so use as a recurrent them the classic Jules Verne’s book « Around the world in eighty days » (Le tour du monde en 80 jours). This path accross different continents includes the dance of the dragon, a way to celebrate the special partnership in 2010 between Madrid and Shanghai.

Cabalgata de los Reyes

Cabalgata de los Reyes

At the end of the parade, the three Wise men, Melchior, Gaspard y Balthazar, arrived on their float and everybody applause them. They leave the char, go up the little stage where before circus exhibitions took place, and deliver a message of peace to the entire crowd (of course, retransmitted by television).

A final firework ends the procession and the party in a nice way, with the speakers screaming « And so this is Christmas » from John Lennon, and kids go back home to sleep, cause the Three Wise Men are about to pass by to leave the presents…

Here you can find a video from a Spanish TV channel to introduce the event.

tags : filed under English, madrid 

Comments

  1. L'Epiphanie (Jour des Rois Mages) en Espagne | Nicolas Daudin on 29.01.2010

    [...] here in [...]

Leave a Reply