Here in Spain, the Day of the Three Kings (January 6) is bigger for children than Christmas. On that day they get all their presents, not on Christmas Day. The eve of the Kings day is filled with anticipation here. All day long I was seeing children with bright, excited eyes on the streets with their parents. It is a big day of general celebration, brought to a close in the evening by the Cabalgata—the arrival of the Three Kings.
At about 7:30 a train arrives in the station here in Sahagún and the Three Kings are on it! They descend and climb aboard trailers pulled by farm tractors that have been highly decorated and are filled with local kids in costumes. The parade begins and spirals through the streets with the kids on the trailers throwing candy to the assembled masses. General excitement prevails. The Kings arrive at the town hall (just across from our apartment—how convenient) and hold court on a stage especially constructed for the occasion. More presents are distributed and everyone goes home happy to await the big bonanza of presents on the morning of the Día de los Reyes.
This year, for the first time in the history of Sahagún, the black king was really black (a local restauranteur), who played the part to the hilt. The king has always been a white guy in black face before. The black guy looked really happy to be included in this small town celebration and we were happy to see him there.
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