Voted Best
ISSUE NO. 1749
10 - 16 January 2019
Newspaper in Spain 2017 & 2018
COSTA DE ALMERÍA YOUR PAPER, YOUR VOICE, YOUR OPINION
SPECTACULAR: This year’s parade in Albox attracted record crowds, and although a more modest event in Mojacar the children were no less excited to see the Three Kings (inset).
Final festive season magic THREE KINGS’ parades brought final festive season magic to towns and cities around the province. The provincial capital put on the most elaborate show on Saturday evening, bringing thousands of people into the city centre to enjoy the annual tradition marking the end of the Christmas holidays. Events began with the arrival of Melchior, Gaspar and Balthazar on camels from the Alcazaba fortification to the Plaza Vieja. “If anyone is missing a present it’s because we have given them out to children who don’t have anything,” Melchor told the crowd, while Gaspar explained he’d been “in charge of giving out gifts especially to anyone who has a disability.” Baltasar said the children
needed to work hard at school, telling them, “If you hadn’t studied I wouldn’t be here today.” The line-up of highly decorated floats, music and spectacular street entertainment was a mix of the most traditional with the more fantastical, themes including imaginary beasts and faraway worlds. City firefighters atop a classic fire engine brought up the rear of the procession, during which around 2.2 million gluten-free sweets were tossed into the crowds. In Mojacar the Three Kings’ parade was rather more modest, but the children lining the street from the village to the Multiple Uses Centre were no less excited to see to see the Three Wise Men and to gather up the sweets, soft toys and streamers their majesties gave
out. There were a few surprises in Mojacar this year. The Three Kings were joined by the Lady of the Blue Door figure from local folklore, the Goddess of Nature and the Goddess of Ice. Three winged angels representing the spirit of Christmas shimmied down the hill with characters like reindeer and gingerbread men, alongside elves and dancers. Finally the Three Kings gave out gifts to Mojacar children aged up to
11, assisted by Mayor Rosa Maria Cano and local councillors. In Albox this year’s event attracted huge crowds, and featured imaginative floats complete with princesses and Disney characters. As in Garrucha, one of the biggest on the Costa Almeria, families from all over the area packed the main roads, the scrabbles for the thousands of sweets the Three Kings launched as they went by distinctly competitive.
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