El Dia de los Tres Reyes in Spain

Celebrate El Dia de los Tres Reyes in Barcelona

Written by Susan Payton on 11 January 2011

I know who the Three Kings are. Know all about that frankincense and myrrh. But what I didn’t know is that for Spaniards (and other Spanish speaking countries), El Dia de los Tres Reyes is bigger than Christmas. And it’s especially big in Barcelona.

Before the 6th of January, kids and adults write letters to the three wise men asking for what they want, much like we do Santa. There are “helpers” located throughout Barcelona, with whom you can entrust your letter to go to the wise men. We gave our letters to a helper who was on the very boat the wise men would arrive on, a replica of one Columbus sailed.

The afternoon of January 5, the wise men arrive by boat. We happened to be on a mountain when they arrived, so viewed the whole thing! Their boat was surrounded by others who were seeing them into the ports. Boats honked, fireworks went off. It was magical.

Then that evening, there is a parade with the wise men and all their friends. It was a very elaborate parade, with amazing costumes, dancers and props. I told my friend it was less commercial than a parade in the US would be (think floats with logos on them, “Vote Buddy for Mayor” signs, etc). She thought the parade was pretty commercialized because the candy wrappers had logos on them. Interesting difference.

The parade stretches from the port to the mountain, which has got to be several miles. Barcelonans line up early to get a good spot for candy catching, so plan to get there around 4 or 5 and plan to wait.

Afterwards, most Barcelonans eat in a restaurant to continue the revelry, and then visit the Christmas market for hot churros with hot chocolate, which is not a drink but rather a sweet dip for the churros. Spain is a staying-out-late country, so this could go on til 2 am!

That night, the 3 wise men visit the children’s homes, so it’s custom to leave bits of bread in a shoe for them, as well as water. We do the same for the reindeer, minus the shoe. In the morning, if you’ve been good, you have presents waiting you. If not, just like in the US, it’s coal for you! (The parade even had a truckload of carbon to scare the kids into being good) Lucky for my son, he’d been good. Double dipping on the presents this holiday season!

Spaniards also celebrate with un Rosca de Reyes, or King Cake. If you’ve celebrated Mardi Gras, you’re familiar with the concept. Inside the cake is a tiny king. The person who finds it is crowned king or queen. There’s also a fava bean hidden. The finder has to buy next year’s cake. Guess who found the fava??

If you get a chance to visit Barcelona in January, I highly recommend you schedule your visit around January 5 and 6 so you can partake in the merriment. The entire city is even more magical than usual!

Susan Payton is President of Egg Marketing & Public Relations and writes the blog The Marketing Eggspert