The Holidays Go Into Overtime in Spain

For most Americans, the holidays really end at Christmas. Sure, there is a momentary rebirth of holiday spirit on New Year’s Eve, but that hardly counts for much except for a chance to party for one night.

Here in Spain the holidays are a much more extended affair. It seems that the primary reason for this (other than the fact that Spaniards love to party) is that the Day of the Three Kings (January 6) is the primary day for giving gifts. The three kings, for those whose Bible history is rusty, are the wise men from the east that came to worship at the Christ child’s feet. I remember playing one of the three kings in a grade school pageant, wearing my bathrobe from home, a towel tied around my head to approximate Arab dress, and a fake beard. In the US, this day counts for very little unless you are really into the high-church calendar, but in Spain it is a big deal. This is a better day for gift giving than Christmas, since the wise men did bring gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh to the Christ child.

The shopping fever has been going on full blast here and the three kings are due to appear this evening (January 5) and bring the kiddies all the gifts that Santa brings on December 25 in the US. In Sahagún there will be a parade of sorts, the Cabalgata. The traditional Cabalgata involved the kings arriving on horseback or even camels if they were available, but if our Cabalgata is anything like the one we saw ten years ago, it will involve tractors pulling trailers with thrones for the kings installed. The kings will be throwing candy to the kiddies like the people do from an American parade float. The whole town will turn out for this cavalcade and the kids will be ecstatic. We have invited our new friends and neighbors, Paddy and Rebekah, to join us for the festivities.

El Día de los Tres Reyes will mark the end of the Christmas holiday. Our Spanish family, Angel, Piedad, and their two boys will return to their primary home in León and the boys will go back to school. I expect our lives to become more routine after this. We are anticipating the receipt of an edited manuscript for Elyn’s next book and then we will get down to serious publishing business for a while, unless we decide to make a trip to Catalunia to see the wonders of Barcelona and surroundings. For us retired folks, the holidays are whenever we decide to take them and a trip to Barcelona has been on our list for some time. Perhaps we will have our own extension of the holiday season. If so, expect pictures and descriptions.