About Spain: January 2010 Archives

Today, 5 January, is the day before Magic Kings Day or "Dia de los Reyes Magos". It's this night when the Magic Kings bring all good boys and girls gifts, leaving them in their shoes and socks. Children not only leave a snack for the Three Wise Men but also water for the camels on which they arrive.

Today's also the day when the 3 Wise Men parade down neighborhood streets throughout Madrid in "carrozas" ("floats") "Cabalgatas de Reyes Magos". These started today at about 5:00pm.

There's also the BIG "Cabalgata de Reyes Magos" marching down the Paseo de la Castellana as I type this. (It's on the TV behind me) This big Cabalgata parade started at 6:30pm and will reach the Plaza de Cibeles at about 8:30pm.

As in all Cabalgatas, the Three Wise Men are represented; Melchor, Gaspar, & Baltasar. Oddly enough, King Baltasar, both on Madrid's wide Paseo de la Castellana as well as in my neighborhood Cabalgata, is represented as a black-face-painted white man. It's odd because I wonder why they couldn't have used an actual black man. Would that be racist? Or is it more racist to have a white man in black face paint? Hmmm... I'm racially confused. Does that make ME a racist???

Not only did the Kings throw tens of thousands of pieces of candies ("sin gluten") at the rabid, anxiously waiting children with their bags and upside-down umbrellas to catch them, but so did the Kings' helpers. Even I grabbed a few pieces. Many grandparents were seen scrambling in harm's way of the near-passing floats to grab candies (presumably) for their grandkids. I still wonder why a big deal is made about the candies being "sin gluten" (gluten free) as candy never (?) has gluten. Products which do often have gluten are products made from grains and meats.

The small, neighborhood Cabalgatas are usually quite short. My neighborhood parade only lasted about 15 minutes maximum, maybe only 10, and I waited 30 minutes for it to arrive. I must have looked odd standing there all by myself, an adult with camera in hand, waiting for the Cabalgata de Reyes. The "stars" of the parades are the Three Wise Men, all riding their own floats. Other floats contain children representing different associations, neighborhood associations, senior centers, and always an international float representing a number of different cultures. I had to wonder why a float of (children) Native American Indians with tee-pees were there, though.

I'd gone downtown earlier today to Madrid's Puerta del Sol's "La Mallorquina" pastry shop to buy the typical (and arguably the best) "Roscón de Reyes", the typical pastry for tomorrow's Dia de Reyes Magos. Luckily they had 5 people working feverishly to serve the ever-entering public. I was CERTAIN there'd be a long line outside the shop but there wasn't, only 8-10 people waiting at the counter making their orders & receiving their Roscón nearly immediately after being boxed up in a pretty pink octagonal box. But to get OUT of the shop I literally had to balance the box on my head, ever saying "Perdóname. Perdóname." to get through the oncoming tied of people. I must've been a sight. Tomorrow morning for breakfast we'll see who'll bite into the "prize", hoping the "second prize" isn't a trip to the dentist office for a broken tooth.

It's so nice to have a GOOD excuse to sleep until noon (or almost) and surviving a New Year's Eve in Madrid is a good one. Last night all of Spain celebrated the changing to the new year of 2010 and all television channels were fervently covering the event.

On TVE, the festivities started around 10pm with a 1-hour montage comedy hour by José Mota (watch 1-hour video via link) with dozens of short skits parodying countless politicians, stars, public figures, and news events of 2009. We laughed a lot.


About 20 minutes before midnight, the formally-dressed TVE countdown team of Anne Igartiburu, Spain's "Mira Quien Baila" host, and dancer-actor Manuel Bandera stood on their Puerta del Sol-facing balcony, with their breath perfectly visible in the freezing cold windy weather, constantly wrung their hands. Ms. Igartiburu was bare-shouldered but, from time to time, pulled her wrap more tightly around her to break the wind momentarily and Mr. Bandera frequently stuck his hands in his pockets. Poor things, freezing to death. Hope they were paid well.




The principal player on television is/was TVE (Televisión Española), Spain's National Channel 1 whom, beginning today, January 1, 2010, will no longer have commercial advertisements and no interruptions during its specials, series, and movies. At least that's what they say. I have to admit I don't see how it's possible to survive without advertising income. But then again, it is a State-run entity. So does that mean our tax Euros are going towards its maintenance? I predict within a year's time they'll have commercials again. Besides, how are we going to decide at what point in the movie we're going to go to the bathroom?

Oh sure, we changed channels for a couple minutes before midnight to TeleCinco to see Belén Estéban's new face after serious (and much needed) plastic surgery but that's all. She and some other guy were the official presenters standing in front of the open windows facing Puerta del Sol's Casa de Correos and its enigmatic bell tower from where the ball will drop to ring in the new year.

After the fireworks and ending statements were made, Televisión Española began a montage of scenes of the previous decade's festivities and personalities. The Spaniards with whom I was sharing the experience sang along to the songs, old commercials, and commented about how young they all looked in their day.

We shared a bottle of wine, sidra, and a simple selection of embutidos, cheeses, and patés. It was a good evening and I finally found my way home and to bed by 3am, sleeping this morning until 11am. It was a good, deep sleep in a new year.

Happy 2010, World! Be kind to one another, please. May we pull ourselves out of this "Crisis" and begin protecting the environment. We all have a part in this.