Los Reyes Magos

Los Reyes Magos (three wise kings, or wisemen) is a tradition in Spain in which on the night before epiphany (January 6) the three wisemen come to the house on their camels and deliver presents to the little girls and boys if they've been good all year.  If they've been bad they deliver coal.  So, the evening before the kings are supposed to come, every city (or so I'm told) has a parade for the three kings.  The parade in Barcelona is huge!  I would say it rivals the Macy's Thanksgiving's day parade except without the huge balloon figures.  There are dancers, and many floats, a "marching" band on horseback, candy, and of course the three kings.  Before the parade the kids write a letter to their favorite king telling them what they hope to get and the letters are collected in nets during the parade.  Afterward, everyone returns home, sets out food for the kings and their camels, the kids go to be early (11ish is early here) and the parents set out the gifts from the kings.  The next morning the kids wake up to presents much like Christmas morning in the US.  Because they have this tradition, they don't really celebrate Christmas with gifts from Santa Claus.  I'm not entirely sure but I think they do get something from Papa Noel (Santa) because Berta likes to ask people what they want from los tres reyes and papa noel next year.