One interesting aspect of travelling the world and living in different places, is that I get to witness different cultural customs, like the Three Kings or “Reyes Magos”.
You know how in so many countries you see Santa Claus decorating most households? Well, here in Spain, you will see something totally different! Santa Claus was not always a part of the winter holidays in Spain, actually he was introduced later on.
Most people have a decorated tree and celebrate the Christams Eve or “Nochevieja” by having a nice dinner surrounded by their family. Some of the kids will even get small presents from Santa. But it’s not such a big celebration.
January 5th is the real deal, the official day when the Three Kings (Reyes Magos) Baltasar, Melchor and Gaspar arrive from the East to bring gifts to the children. Same as in the Bible the Kings brought gifts to baby Jesus. And January 6th is marked in the calendar as a national holiday.
The procession of the Three Kings “Reyes Magos”
I’m lucky to temporarily live in Alcoy, one of the Spanish pueblos where this celebration is very looked forward to, and people get out of their way to celebrate it. This year I witnessed the processions and the spirit of the holidays was great, and new to me!
Just before January you can already see the windows and the balconies decorated with the Pajes and the Three Kings. I told you – no Santa Claus here! In the official ceremony the Kings arrive on their camels and their helpers called Pajes are climbing stairs to the windows to leave presents for the children.
On the 4th of January the children gather in the streets for the announcement of the Three Kings arrival. The traffic in the central area of the town is closed down during this time, as well as on the next day. The children deposit their letters into the boxes carried by donkeys and supervised by the Pajes. That night the Kings will read the letters from the children to find out what gifts they should bring the following day.
On the evening of January 5th the celebrations run through the central streets of the town. People gather many hours in advance to get a good viewing point. The procession starts around 6pm and takes about 2-3 hours. Several musician bands, dancers and carriages pulled by bulls, pajes and the Three Kings on their camels are slowly walking up the streets, greeting people and sharing presents.
The Pajes climb up stairs to the balconies of the main street, to give presents to the children that live there. Around 8pm when the procession arrives in the central plaza, the Three Kings give their adoration to baby Jesus and fireworks begin.
This local Alcoyan procession is recognised as a main national event, together with the “Moros y Christianos“, a celebration that takes place in March. And the traditional celebration of the Three Kings is very old, dating back to the 1800’s.
How people celebrate the Three Kings “Reyes Magos”
On the 6th of January people gather together with their families and that’s when the children (and adults) receive their presents.
The family will have a meal where they serve various dishes. After the meal it’s a custom to have Roscon de Reyes which is a cake in round shape with a hole in the middle. The round shape symbolises the crown and the glazed fruits on it are the crown’s jewels. Inside the cake there’s a hidden figurine of one of the Three Kings, and a kind of flat bean. Word is that whoever happens to find the hidden figurine will have good luck. But if they find the bean they will have to pay for the Roscon the next year 🙂
Wow Adela! I learned so much from this post!! My husband and his family are Mexican and do celebrations for Los Reyes Magos too, but I must say that Spain takes the cake when it comes to celebrating them. I honestly did not know it was celebrated there. What I loved the most about this blog post was that I felt like I was there experiencing this celebration because of the details and pictures you provided. Keep up the awesome work!!
Hi Wendy!! It made me so happy to read your comment! I didn’t know either that Los Reyes are celebrated also in Mexico! This is why I like to connect to people all over the world, there is so much we can learn 🙂 <3