Día de los Reyes Magos

As we know, Spaniards are not averse to celebrating anything, and Catholic holidays are never missed at all.

After the New Year, according to the calendar, there is a feast of the Epiphany - the night from January 5 to January 6. In Spain, it is called the Day of the Magic Kings (Día de los Reyes Magos). They call the three biblical magi, Kaspar, Melchior and Belshazzar, who came with gifts to worship the newborn Jesus in Bethlehem, Magi kings. They informed the world about the birth of the savior, this moment is reproduced in the form of a grandiose festive procession in every Spanish city. This beautiful and unique sight does not get boring from year to year. The streets are packed with tourists and townspeople with children.

Kings from the East are all different. The elder Melchor (Melchior) was a brahmin from India with a gray beard, bringing gold. Gaspar (Gaspar or Kaspar) represents the Old World, he has a brown beard and he gives incense. Baltasar (Balthazar or Valtasar) is always black or in makeup, he represents the African continent and gives myrrh. People in these costumes lead a colonnade around the city, giving their attention to all who came. In coastal cities, they can arrive by boat. They can also descend from the mountains or even come by camel.

The most interesting thing is that, according to tradition, children receive their gifts not on New Year's Day, but on Reyes Magos day. Before the holiday, they write letters to the Kings-Magicians, in which they tell how they behaved all year, how they studied, obeyed their parents, and what they want to receive as a gift. Of course, parents read this and decide whether the child deserved what he asked for.

On the night of January 5 to 6, children leave a shoe for gifts, and in the morning they run to check. If the child has behaved well, then he receives the desired gift. If he behaved badly, did not listen to his parents, then the child received pieces of coal. This is by tradition. Now, of course, few people do this, but before it was really necessary to try to please the magic kings.