6th January is the holiday celebrating the visit of the Three Kings to worship and bring gifts to the new-born Jesus Christ. In Spain, it has traditionally been the most important day that ends the ¨Christmas¨ holidays.
The Three Kings are more or less the same as Santa Claus throughout the rest of the world. Children write a letter to the Kings asking for their desired toys. Many cities set up locations where the kids can deposit their letter to the ¨Royal Mailman¨.
On January 5th, cities organize ¨la Cabalgata de Reyes¨, a parade across town with the Kings mounted on big chariots and throwing sweets to all the kids. This is a major event attended by most families. We attended quite a few in the first years of arriving in Spain. It’s too cold for that nonsense now.
On the night of January 5th to 6th, the children clean their shoes and leave them out with a little snack for the Kings and their camels. I have found no reference to Camel Toes. During the night, the Kings bring them presents if they have been good during the year or a piece of coal…
On January 6th, people eat ¨el Róscon de Reyes¨, a sweet bread with a small surprise (Jesus or other figurine) in its dough. The person who ¨eats¨ the surprise becomes King for the day.
This year, January 7th marks the day back to school, hence the end of the holidays. Result.
Seeing as the children have had little time to enjoy their toys, many Spanish families have now started celebrating ‘our’ Christmas on Dec 25th, splitting presents between the two days.