THREE KINGS REIGN

Christmas in Barcelona is less intense but more drawn out than in Britain. The streets are lit and decorated, and it is done tastefully, but not to the extent that they are in London, Berlin or even Nice. You get a distinct sense that Barcelona would like to keep the season simple and dignified, but is being pushed into adopting the whole none yards Christmas celebrations with extra Jingle Bells on.

Santa Claus’s are few and far between and there is a distinct absence of drunk girls roaming the streets wearing cute little reindeer antlers. 

Christmas Day, December 25, is a bit of a non-event, and what local traditions there are tend towards the scatological and are perhaps best glossed over.

 

The Big Day her is January 6, “Twelfth Night” or Epiphany, which celebrates the visit of the Magi – the Three Kings - to Bethlehem and the revelation of the newly born Jesus as the Messiah, either that  or a convenient way for the Christian Church to eclipse Jewish Hanukkah celebrations. The theologians amongst you can argue that one in your own time.

The celebration of the three kings begins on the 5th, with their arrival at Port Vell, from where they proceed by car to Parc de la Ciutadella for the parade.

The parade is a spectacular event that progresses through the city for about three hours, with dozens of floats reflecting Barcelona’s distinctive brand of the surreal, and the all too real.

The brigade of mounted police and musicians had a small fleet of street sweeping vehicles following the horses.

A popular feature of the parade are the millions of sweets that are thrown into the crowds, often with the aid of large medieval style catapult devices, sending the kids and a few adults scrambling. 

They are damned hard those sweets and I was glad I was wearing a hat. In the UK “elf and safety” would have put an end to this practice long ago. 

Some things do not change through, no sooner had the last hard boiled sweet bounced of somebody's head in Placa Catalunya than the shops had were preparing for the sales, which are only allowed to start after Epiphany.