Los Reyes Magos, and then Rebajas: The Three Kings, a Day of Gift-Giving in Spain

Today is el Día de los Reyes (the Day of the Magi Kings) in Spain, a.k.a. la Adoración de los Magos (the Adoration of the Wise Men), a.k.a. El Día de la Epifanía (the Day of Epiphany), a national holiday and the country's traditional equivalent to Christmas in the U.S., that is the day kids open gifts here. Today the three wise men kings, Melchior ("Melchor"), Caspar ("Gaspar"), and Balthasar ("Baltasar"), bring their gifts to all the kids throughout Spain much the way Santa brings them to kids in the UK and U.S. on the 25th of December.

For a laugh, I recommend
"Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale" (2010),
a Finnish movie about the "real story"
behind Santa Clause.

From a Christian point of view, Reyes makes much more sense than Christmas as a day of gift-giving. Today, the twelfth day of Christmas my true love gave to me, is the day that, according to the Bible, the three wise men, a.k.a. los reyes magos, arrived to the little town of Bethlehem, a.k.a. Belén, bringing the newborn baby Christ gifts from the Orient… specifically gold (gimme!), frankincense (an incense), and myrrh (an embalming oil and symbol of death… kinda morbid gift, huh?). Compare that to a story about a jolly ol' elf who lives in the North Pole, flies around with magical reindeer (some of whom have glowing red noses), cavorts with other elves, and who spies on children (to know if they are naughty or nice) in order to decide whether to give them candy and sweets and tooth cavities or a lump of coal.

The Three Kings offering Christ their gifts in Valencia's Townhall belén

I'll confess that, before moving to Spain, the only time I ever thought about
the Three Kings was when singing this Christmas carol ("villancico"),
"We Three Kings," and usually then the parody version.

I'd say that, in practice, Spaniards are split about 50/50 on those who gift-give on Christmas and those who do so on Reyes. (Of course, _everyone_ celebrates _both_ days, both of which are national holidays and important family meal days.) Historically and traditionally, however, Reyes is _the_ important holiday on this gift-giving front. So traditionalists and maybe the more religiously-inclined lean towards Reyes. But non-christians and pragmatists often lean towards Christmas. Let's face it. Giving your kids gifts on January 6th, and then having them go to school often the very next day is a bit of a killjoy. A lot of parents thus choose to give gifts on December 25th so that their kids have the entire holiday break to play with them. (While there's no official war between Christmas and Reyes, Papa Noel and Los Reyes, it makes for an interesting question to poll your Spanish friends: which way do you swing?) 

If you are looking for a Bad Santa (2003) style comedy about Reyes,
you might enjoy Noche de reyes (2001), starring Elsa Pataky among others,
and which, if I remember correctly, even has a hilarious scene where
some guys dressed up as the Three Kings beat up a Santa Claus.

Much like I mentioned earlier with Santa, you can see the Three Kings climbing
Spanish balconies in their quest to bring kids their gifts for the holidays.

Reyes has picked up all the accoutrements of Christmas, what with the competition and opportunity for marketing. Kids write letters to the Reyes. Some people playfully move the Three Kings pieces of their home belén the days leading up to Reyes, to simulate the journey of the kings closer to Christ's crib. It can be cute to watch the RTVE news people play along the week leading up, talking as if the Kings are real while practically winking at their audience. (This morning on the national radio they were interviewing different kids across the country about what the Reyes brought them, which was pretty cute.) The night of the 5th, kids might leave drinks (e.g. wine) for the Three Kings and something extra (milk or bread) for the camels, much like American kids would leave cookies for Santa on Christmas Eve. And kids open gifts morning of the 6th. They might find carbón (coal) if they've been a bad kid… but here it's a sweet, carbón dulce! There will be a family lunch, and following it parents will bring out the roscón de reyes, a round donut shaped cake with candied fruit ("escarchada") on top, often filled with a cream or "caballo de ángel" (Angel's hair jam) and surprises hidden underneath. (A lot of families have the roscón in the morning for breakfast.) Whoever gets the slice with the "haba" bean buys the cake next year, whoever gets the king or figurine is king or queen for the day. (Thus, roscones are usually sold in hornos with a paper crown.)

What a typical roscón looks like

Last year my mother-in-law got the figurine (a hippo) and my father-in-law the haba.

One thing that has fascinated me as an outsider is Balthasar, the, by popular tradition, black king. Spain has only very recently experienced a surge in immigration, and with it an increase in the number of Africans who now make up its 21st-century population and look. So finding this African face among its traditional holiday images is kind of intriguing. Now I don't want to start any big arguments about this, and I definitely don't want to insinuate any racial politics into what is effectively a happy, friendly, family, and all-around positive time of the year… but I can't help but share with you my early and initial mild shock at the use of blackface by white Spaniards dressing as Balthasar. Until recently this was a common practice in Spain, and for that matter it is still quite common in a lot of places here. For you Spanish readers: in the U.S., the use of blackface is _heavily_ associated with racism, since it was commonly used to play the "happy-go-lucky darky on the plantation" and other such slavery and segregation era stereotypes. Such is the stigma that Robert Downey Jr.'s clearly comical parody of its use in Tropic Thunder (2008), still managed to receive criticism for making light of the subject. In Spain not so much. I don't think anyone would see any harm in a Spaniard "dressing up" as Balthasar with blackface. So this is definitely a cultural difference to keep in mind. 

American actor Robert Downey Jr. in blackface for Tropic Thunder (2008)

An example of Balthasar-by-means-of-blackface in Spain,
all in good fun and not remotely intended to be offensive.

However, the figure of Balthasar today has also become an almost irresistible opportunity for improving race-relations and Spanish attitudes about sub-Saharan immigrants in Spain. Subsaharan immigrants are increasingly invited to play the part of Balthasar in official Reyes visits to elementary schools or in the arab tents ("la jaima") where kids go to make official requests of the Three Kings, or at the official Three Kings parades ("cabalgatas"). While I don't want to knock any Spaniards out there who still rely on blackface to play Balthasar, my personal hope is that Spain will embrace this growing population of new Spaniards of African origin by further incorporating them into what is a model of multiculturalism: three wise men of the Middle East Orient, each of different kingdoms and of an exotic—Zoroastrian—faith, coming to offer their congratulations to a family of migrant workers persecuted for its innovative religious beliefs.

¡Felices Reyes!

A "jaima" with lines of kids eager to speak with the Three Kings (all played by subsaharan immigrants),
set up by Valencia's Bioparc this year in the Parque de Parterre next to the El Corte Inglés Colón location.

Postscript: Did you not get what you wanted for Christmas Reyes? Have no worries! Tomorrow, January 7th, is the start of Rebajas season. Rebajas are a strictly regulated affair in Spain. Discounts have to be for a certain minimum amount, and covering a certain percentage of store products. And they can only take place on specified dates. January (and now much of February) is _the_ big Rebajas season, and this year there's talk of discounts of more than 50% off. So it's not quite as great a deal as gifts from wise men, but I'll be out there shopping for those things Santa and the Three Kings forgot to get me.

Local Vocab: "El belén" – The nativity scene as a Spanish Xmas tradition

Our less-than-traditional belén, which
we bought at Intermón Oxfam. I wanted
one that would remind me of home.

One very typical Spanish tradition around Christmas time, which I encourage everyone to pay attention to for the next few weeks is "el belén" (Bethlehem, a.k.a. the Nativity scene). 

For starters, it is common for people here to have a miniature belén in their homes, perhaps in a hallway or in some display spot, as an essential holiday decoration. So there is a lot Xmas paraphernalia for building simple, personalized or incredibly elaborate belenes. Putting out the belén goes hand-in-hand with putting up the plastic Christmas tree as 'must dos' in preparing for the holidays.

My in-laws' more conventional belén has just the basics... Center: Mary, Joseph, and Jesus;
the angel, cow, and oxen; Right: the Three Kings ("los reyes magos"); Left: the shepherd boy
plus sheep... and "el cagador" (discussed below)

Probably the best place in Spain to go shopping for new additions to your
belén is La Fira de Santa Llúcia, in the center of Barcelona for two weeks
in December. The specialty at this market fair is Nativity scene decorations
as well as other Christmas paraphernalia.

Though in Madrid there is also the Mercadillo navideño de la Plaza Mayor

One curious fixture of the Spanish belén is "el caganer" (Catalan for "el cagador" or the crapper). Apparently, this guy has been a classic member of the belén family display in Catalonia since at least the 18th century, he wears a traditional regional cap, and has even managed, perhaps not surprisingly, to take on some degree of Catalan symbolic cultural importance as its signature contribution to the Catholic tradition. (It is important to note that this piece is _always_ placed somewhere discretely on the edges of one's belén, far away from the baby Jesus, _never_ at the center with the Holy family.)

"El caganer." This Catalan figurine and humorous twist on the
holiday belén tradition is, well, kind of gross, or honest, depending
on how you see it. It has fast become a fixture of most Spaniard's home display

Here you can see the National Selection Soccer Team, available for sale
 as "el caganer". Needless to say, you can also find this figurine
 for most political figures and famous people.

If you are into it, there is a real collectors opportunity in Spain with these
decorative nativity scene pieces, as there are thousands and thousands of them.

But in addition to this home decoration tradition, there are also some impressive large display belenes that you can probably visit in your Spanish town. And I'm not talking about the city Nativity scene (usually placed outside on the Townhall Square, a.k.a. "Plaza del Ayuntamiento"). Private aficionados collect or make pieces until they have a spectacularly large miniature Bethlehem with thousands of pieces.

This image, Valencia's town hall nativity scene on the Plaza del Ayuntamiento,
would look familiar to Americans, though the Three Kings are usually featured more prominently
since in Spain they (more than Santa Claus) are traditionally the ones kids expect gifts from.

In and near Valencia, there are two really nice publicly displayed (though not free) belenes, worth making the trip to see. The easier of the two to get to is the belén in the Catedral de Valencia on the Plaza de la Vírgen, which this year has around 300 figurines. (Open: M-F 10-13.30h, 16-20h; Sun. 11-14h.)

One of the figurine scenes in the Catedral de Valencia's annual belén.

But the more impressive one is in the town of Meliana north of Valencia. Melchor Almela Lagarda, member of the "Asociación Belenista de Valencia," started this "Belén de Roca" together with his family in 1990. (You can get an idea of the time and effort invested in it, by looking at the photos of their "Cómo se hace el belén" webpage.) At more than 50 square meters in size, and with more than 5000 pieces, it is a spectacular thing to see. (Open: Everyday 11-14h, 16.30-20.30h. You can get to Meliana by the metro (Line 3), and it's a few minutes walk to it from the "Meliana" metro stop.)

This family owned belén in Meliana is really worth the trip just
 out of town. The detail and elaboration is pretty incredible.

Both the Cathedral and Meliana belenes will be up well into January... or at least, that is, until the weekend after Reyes (on January 6th). The detail and craftsmanship on these belén figurines and Bethlehem settings are pretty impressive. So whether or not you are into the whole Christian Christmas thing, I highly recommend going to it at least once. (And for those of you who do not living near Valencia, you can look here or here for the Association of "Belenistas" from your town to see if there are some similar belenes near you. After a quick search, I found that in Madrid there is a display that sounds pretty impressive in the Galería de Cristal del Palacio de Cibeles, among others. Please post here if you find one you really like!)