In Spain, the Three Kings bring the presents, so January 5 is the biggest night of the year for kids! Melchor, Gaspar and Baltasar ride down the Castellana throwing candy, many districts hold smaller parades, and by morning the presents have arrived. On the 6th, families share roscón de Reyes, a ring cake with a figurine hidden inside. Here's what we checked, from nativity scenes to the big parade.
Melchor, Gaspar and Baltasar ride down the Castellana on three royal floats, with pages tossing candy and street-theater troupes in between. It ends at Cibeles with the Kings' speech and fireworks. For Spanish kids this is the night before the presents arrive, so the curb buzzes with excitement. Little ones see best from shoulders; it runs long and cold for kids who tire fast.
Many of Madrid's districts hold their own Three Kings parade in the days around the big one on the Castellana: floats, the Kings waving from the top, and candy thrown to kids at the curb. Some end with a reception where children meet the Kings or hand over their letters. Crowds are usually smaller than downtown, so small kids get a front-row view closer to home.
City Hall turns its own building into a Christmas stop. Under the glass roof of the Galería de Cristal there's an ice rink, with skates in the ticket and walkers for kids finding their feet. In the old post office hall next door, the city's big nativity runs from the cave to a waterfall and lake. Both are indoors, so it holds up on a cold or rainy day.
A huge nativity scene inside the Real Casa de Correos, built every year by Madrid's volunteer nativity makers. Last year's walk-around version held about 500 figures under a ceiling of starry lights, and choirs sang live through December. Kids lean over the rails to spot scenes from shepherds to the Three Kings' parade.
Belenes, the nativity scenes Spanish families build every Christmas, turn up all over the city in museums, palaces, convents and public buildings. The big ones are whole miniature towns, with rivers, mills and market stalls around the stable and hundreds of handmade figures. Kids get absorbed hunting for small scenes, like the washerwoman at the river. One or two in an afternoon is plenty.
Madrid's main square fills with red wooden stalls every Christmas, a market that has run for more than a century. Families come for nativity figures, moss and tiny accessories for their home belén, plus ornaments and toys. Kids head straight for the joke-shop stalls, piled with wigs, masks and gag gifts. Just off the square, a vintage carousel turns in Plaza de Santa Cruz.
In Spain, the Three Kings bring the presents, so January 5 is the biggest night of the year for kids! Melchor, Gaspar and Baltasar ride down the Castellana throwing candy, many districts hold smaller parades, and by morning the presents have arrived. On the 6th, families share roscón de Reyes, a ring cake with a figurine hidden inside. Here's what we checked, from nativity scenes to the big parade.
Melchor, Gaspar and Baltasar ride down the Castellana on three royal floats, with pages tossing candy and street-theater troupes in between. It ends at Cibeles with the Kings' speech and fireworks. For Spanish kids this is the night before the presents arrive, so the curb buzzes with excitement. Little ones see best from shoulders; it runs long and cold for kids who tire fast.
Many of Madrid's districts hold their own Three Kings parade in the days around the big one on the Castellana: floats, the Kings waving from the top, and candy thrown to kids at the curb. Some end with a reception where children meet the Kings or hand over their letters. Crowds are usually smaller than downtown, so small kids get a front-row view closer to home.
City Hall turns its own building into a Christmas stop. Under the glass roof of the Galería de Cristal there's an ice rink, with skates in the ticket and walkers for kids finding their feet. In the old post office hall next door, the city's big nativity runs from the cave to a waterfall and lake. Both are indoors, so it holds up on a cold or rainy day.
A huge nativity scene inside the Real Casa de Correos, built every year by Madrid's volunteer nativity makers. Last year's walk-around version held about 500 figures under a ceiling of starry lights, and choirs sang live through December. Kids lean over the rails to spot scenes from shepherds to the Three Kings' parade.
Belenes, the nativity scenes Spanish families build every Christmas, turn up all over the city in museums, palaces, convents and public buildings. The big ones are whole miniature towns, with rivers, mills and market stalls around the stable and hundreds of handmade figures. Kids get absorbed hunting for small scenes, like the washerwoman at the river. One or two in an afternoon is plenty.
Madrid's main square fills with red wooden stalls every Christmas, a market that has run for more than a century. Families come for nativity figures, moss and tiny accessories for their home belén, plus ornaments and toys. Kids head straight for the joke-shop stalls, piled with wigs, masks and gag gifts. Just off the square, a vintage carousel turns in Plaza de Santa Cruz.