Awaiting the Magic
Tonight is a magical night for children all over Spain. Tonight, while they're all abed, the three Magi will come and leave presents for them, just as they brought three special presents all the way from the Orient to Baby Jesus over two thousand years ago. That is the tradition. And just as a stocking is hung for Santa, shoes are left out for the Wise Men. Though most presents don't even fit under a tree nowadays, much less in a shoe.
And this evening Their Majesties (for the Wise Men were Kings) will visit cities and towns where parades will be held, welcoming them and their helpers. Floats have been prepared ever since last summer in some cases, and they are ready to carry Melchor, Gaspar and Balthasar through the streets. Pages will collect letters from eager children wishing for special presents. The Magi will throw candy from the floats, trying to keep a rhythm so that the candy lasts through the last street. Some children will cry with fear, others will open their eyes wide in wonder, and others will scramble for candy like a gold digger staking out a claim before anyone else does so. Just like every year.
These parades have been held since the middle of the nineteenth century. The first were held in Alcoy, Alicante, and the parade ended with a Mass. At the beginning of the twentieth century they became popular and charitable. In 1912 the organizers of the parade in Granada collected toys to distribute among the poor children at the end of the parade. That year is also when the first women participated as Wise Men. Another time women participated was in Valencia in 1937, when a lay parade rounded out the Week of Childhood (Semana de la Infancia). At that time Valencia was still in Republican hands and religious beliefs were not welcome to participate in public life. So it was a lay parade, with three women representing Liberty, Equality and Fraternity (originality only went so far) instead of the Magi.
So, this year some cities governed by the left have admitted women to represent some of the Magi, which has the conservatives in a tiff, saying things to the effect of "What have we come to?" Especially in Valencia, where an organization decided to resurrect the lay parade of 1937. The leftist mayor permitted it, but one day before the regular parade with the regular Magi. So, yesterday Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity rode through the streets, seventy-nine years later. Again, the conservatives have thrown their heads back and howled. What does it matter, as long as the kids are happy? It's their parade, after all.
Santa Claus has been getting stronger, but the Wise Men still rule.
And this evening Their Majesties (for the Wise Men were Kings) will visit cities and towns where parades will be held, welcoming them and their helpers. Floats have been prepared ever since last summer in some cases, and they are ready to carry Melchor, Gaspar and Balthasar through the streets. Pages will collect letters from eager children wishing for special presents. The Magi will throw candy from the floats, trying to keep a rhythm so that the candy lasts through the last street. Some children will cry with fear, others will open their eyes wide in wonder, and others will scramble for candy like a gold digger staking out a claim before anyone else does so. Just like every year.
These parades have been held since the middle of the nineteenth century. The first were held in Alcoy, Alicante, and the parade ended with a Mass. At the beginning of the twentieth century they became popular and charitable. In 1912 the organizers of the parade in Granada collected toys to distribute among the poor children at the end of the parade. That year is also when the first women participated as Wise Men. Another time women participated was in Valencia in 1937, when a lay parade rounded out the Week of Childhood (Semana de la Infancia). At that time Valencia was still in Republican hands and religious beliefs were not welcome to participate in public life. So it was a lay parade, with three women representing Liberty, Equality and Fraternity (originality only went so far) instead of the Magi.
So, this year some cities governed by the left have admitted women to represent some of the Magi, which has the conservatives in a tiff, saying things to the effect of "What have we come to?" Especially in Valencia, where an organization decided to resurrect the lay parade of 1937. The leftist mayor permitted it, but one day before the regular parade with the regular Magi. So, yesterday Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity rode through the streets, seventy-nine years later. Again, the conservatives have thrown their heads back and howled. What does it matter, as long as the kids are happy? It's their parade, after all.
Santa Claus has been getting stronger, but the Wise Men still rule.
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