Three Kings’ Day in Spain
In Spain, the holiday season isn’t just gearing up for Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and then New Year’s. Saint Stephen’s Day in Catalunya and certain other parts of the country is stuck right in the middle, on December 26th; then Three Kings’ Eve (Verbena de Reyes) and Three Kings’ Day (El Día de los Reyes Magos) take place on January 5th and 6th, respectively. The holiday is colloquially referred to as “Reyes” for short.
Three Kings’ Eve is the Twelfth Day of Christmas; it's the night before the Epiphany which is one of the most important aspects of the Christmas story, and is celebrated in various countries around the world: specifically, in Western* countries with a Catholic tradition such as France, Spain, Portugal, Poland, Belgium, Italy, Lebanon, Mexico, Argentina, Puerto Rico, Paraguay and others. It is meant to remember the Three Wise Men’s adoration of the infant Jesus.
The Story of the Three Kings
The Three Kings’ Day story comes from the Book of Matthew in the Catholic Bible; while additional descriptions appear in the Apocryphal Gospels, these books were removed from the traditionally accepted version of the Bible. When the names of the Three Kings appeared in a sixth-century mosaic in the Basilica of Saint Apollinaris in Ravenna, Italy, they began to grow in popularity as a popular motif in medieval artwork.
The legend tells of three kings from different realms who traveled towards Jerusalem from the East to worship a newborn prophet. Melchior, Baltazar and Gaspar—riding a camel, an elephant and a horse—brought gifts of gold, myrrh and frankincense.
Gold, Myrrh and Frankincense
If you grew up hearing the tale of the Three Wise Men (also called The Magi), you’ve heard about the gifts of these three precious substances, but it’s possible that gold is the only one of the three that you could describe with confidence. In case you were wondering, myrrh is sap or resin that comes from the bark of small, flowering trees of the genus Commiphora. It contains chemicals that are thought to be anti-bacterial and pain-reducing, and was prized as rare and valuable in ancient Middle Eastern and Chinese cultures. At the time, it was one of the ingredients in a special oil used to anoint the ancient Israelite temple, and to consecrate priests and kings.
Frankincense is another kind of aromatic resin, this time from various species of the Boswellia tree; in traditional medicine, it’s used to fight inflammation and other ailments, and was also an ingredient that was burned as a part of the consecration ceremony in ancient Israelite temple worship.
The theory goes that the baby Jesus was offered these three specific gifts because myrrh represented his humanity and his mission to represent God amongst mankind, frankincense was an offering burned only in holy contexts and therefore represented Jesus’ divinity, and gold was a gift given only to kings. The combination of all three symbolic and precious gifts was meant to honor these three aspects of the newborn.
The Epiphany
The religious holiday is also called Epiphany, a word which means “sudden revelation,” referring to the idea that Jesus manifested or revealed himself to people who had not heard of him before: namely, the Three Kings, who were guided by a star to Bethlehem. In literature there are references to the Kings as scientists and astrologers, which aligns with the idea of their reading the heavens to find their way to the manger.
But it’s not just the revelation to the Three Kings that is celebrated on January 6th; it also celebrates Jesus’ manifestation to the inner circle of his soon-to-be disciples, as well as to the people of Israel. In other words, the day is supposed to mark the revelation of the Christian prophet to the whole world: to believers who were awaiting him, as well as non-believers from other parts of the globe who were not members of the “chosen” people.
The story of the Three Kings so captured the imagination of the late 19th-century American writer Henry Van Dyke that he wrote a book about a fourth king who never made it to his destination. Artaban, the Wise Man who got lost on the road to Jerusalem, had a long beard, noble eyes, lived on Mount Ushita, and had something of a sixth sense or prescience. His gift was supposed to be precious gems: diamonds, rubies and jade. The book, which is generally considered by historians to be a work of fiction rather than a religious text, is a parable for living according to the same moral tenets as Jesus.
Verbena de Reyes, January 5th
The night before Three Kings’ Day is akin to Christmas Eve in terms of its religious significance as well as the tradition of gift-giving. In families where both Christmas and Reyes are celebrated, it’s often the Kings who receive letters from children and “deliver” presents on January 5th—not Santa Claus or Saint Nicholas on December 24th. Children will sometimes leave their shoes outside on their terrace or balcony for the Kings to fill with sweet treats and small gifts. They also leave a glass of milk (or something stronger) and nougat, or turrón, for the Kings to snack on while on their journey across the world. However, only children who have behaved well throughout the year are supposed to receive gifts; the “bad” children find their shoes filled with coal. In today’s supermarkets you can usually find lumps of “coal” made of sugar for sale, packaged in tiny burlap sacks.
The colorful Kings’ parade on the evening of the fifth, celebrating the Three Wise Men’s arrival, is one of the most highly-anticipated moments of the year for children. In Barcelona, for example, the Kings arrive on a boat at the Port Vell, then wind their way through the streets with their multicolored entourage, waving and throwing candy to the people lining the way. (Click here for the Kings’ route this year.)
Gaspar, the King of Sheba, is traditionally shown with red hair and beard, and often with a green cape or cloak. Melchor, the King of Arabia, has a long white beard and white hair, and often wears a gold cloak. Baltazar, the King of Egypt and Tarse, is depicted with a black beard and often with darker skin than the rest, and wearing a purple cloak. Each King rides on an illuminated float, and is accompanied by his court of dancers and musicians.
January 5th is also the night when most people take down their Christmas decorations and some even say that it’s bad luck to keep them up longer. (Along those lines, it’s the last night that the holiday lights adorning the streets of the city are illuminated.) But in the middle ages it was customary to leave them up until Candlemas on February 2nd, which commemorates the day that Jesus was presented at the temple, and taking them down at another time was believed to be inauspicious for the coming year.
Día de Reyes, January 6th
Three Kings’ Day is celebrated on the sixth by opening presents with family, and by eating a round Kings’ Cake (called la rosca de Reyes in Spanish), a tradition which dates back to the 14th century in Europe. The tradition of the rosca arrived later in the Americas to the former colonies of countries such as France and Spain, where the Epiphany holiday was observed.
The circular shape of the cake encrusted with candied fruits and sugar is a reference to the crowns worn by the Kings, and to the never-ending “circle” of God’s love for humankind. The Spanish version was traditionally prepared with marzipan, but these days there are variations, including those filled with cream or chocolate. Every country prepares its Kings’ Cake slightly differently. In many places around the world, there is traditionally a small ceramic or plastic figurine of either the baby Jesus or a king, baked into the cake; it’s considered to be a sign of good fortune for whoever finds the figurine, making them “king” of the celebrations for the day. In Spain, it is also customary to insert a bean into the cake—whoever gets served that piece has to pay for the cake, or the cake of the coming year.
The eating of the Kings’ Cake, the parade, and the presents for children and loved ones are traditions in both religious and non-religious households. Practicing Catholics will also often attend a special Mass on January 6th.
*In the Eastern Orthodox tradition, which follows the Julian calendar instead of the internationally-accepted Gregorian calendar, the Epiphany is celebrated on the equivalent of January 19th.