First of all, a happy new year to all of you!
Mónica and I had a great time on New Year's Eve. We ate, drank and danced until 6 o'clock in the morning. And of course we respected the Spanish traditions like wearing red underwear for good luck and eating the 12 grapes of luck in 12 seconds at midnight, while listening to the chimes of the bells in Madrid on the radio.
Last Friday, another Spanish tradition took place. On the evening of the 6th of January, a big parade visits the major streets of every Spanish city, to celebrate the arrival of the three wise men from the east.
You see, in Spain it is not Santa who brings gifts for the children. The gifts are brought on the night of the 6th of January by the three wise men from the east: Melchior, Balthasar and Caspar.
Unfortunately, not everyone has had a happy new year.
In only 2 weeks time, 176 people have died in car accidents on the Spanish roads. And since the new year has started, 6 Spanish women have already been killed by their husbands or lovers in crimes of passion.
The year may have changed, but the problems have stayed the same.
5 comments:
And do they have 'Sinterklaas' in Spain?
It's the first time I read about getting presents at the 6th of January. And the grapes and the underwear: sounds pretty cool. We need such traditions in Belgium as well!!
Hi Do,
No, Sinterklaas doesn't exist in Spain. They have never heard of him. It's only Santa and the three kings. And the three kings bring the presents.
A good thing is that the day on which the children get their presents (the sixth of january) is a holiday. So they have all day to play with their new toys.
The underwear and the grapes are fun traditions. Especially trying to eat 12 grapes in 12 seconds can lead to hilarious moments. And every Spaniard does it! They can't start the new year without their grapes of luck.
Sometimes, they ask me: what traditions do the Belgians have when celebrating new year? And I have to say: euhm, none.
Their answer is: How boring, no??
Everybody, even in bars and restaurants, listens to the bells in madrid on the radio or tv to know when it is midnight.
So they asked me if we have that kind of bells in Belgium. Well, no.
So they asked: Then how do you know when it is midnight.
I said: We look at our watch.
They can't believe this!
But at least we have the galette des rois in Belgium!
The red underwear tradition is interesting, I was told by an Italian (from Trieste) that they have the tradition of buying it, rather than wearing it, for New Year, one wonders when such an idea could have started, and why. Maybe some shopkeeper with a surplus of items that had inadvertently been dyed red decided to convince people that they brought luck for the new year?
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