Life In Spain-Semana Santa (Holy Week)

Easter Week in Spain is known as Semana Santa (Holy Week) and is celebrated much more in Spain than in most of the European countries. There are evening street processions in most of the Spanish towns starting from Palm Sunday right through to Easter Sunday.

In the processions, statues of saints are carried on wooden platforms or on floats by religious brotherhoods and they are also responsible for organising musicians. The people carrying these are known as “costaleros” and many of them use a small cushion, called a “costal” to prevent themselves from getting sores from the wood rubbing against their skin during the processions.

They are followed by people dressed in outfits which are similar looking to the Ku Klux Klan, but they are in fact depicting the clothing worn by the Nazareños (people from Nazareth).

The Easter week processions end on Easter Sunday and church and cathedral bells can be heard ringing throughout the whole of Spain.

Three Kings Day (Dia de los Reyes Magos)

Dia de los Reyes Magos (Three Kings Day) is celebrated on January 6^th and is almost as important as Christmas day itself especially for the children as this is the day when they get their presents.
The evening before most major cities have a parade to commemorate the arrival of the three kings or the three wise men who made the journey from the East to see the Baby Jesus. The Three Kings lead the procession of huge floats through the streets and they throw sweets to all the children who line the streets waiting with their plastic bags or even umbrellas to catch them in.
After the parade the majority of families go home for an early night and before they go to bed, the children put some milk and biscuits next to the Christmas tree for the Three Kings and also some water for the camels. They also put their best pair of shoes for the Three Kings to fill them with presents.
The next day (January 6^th) the children find out how many presents they've received. There are a lot of presents if they've been good but if they've been naughty, they'll get coal. (Nowadays it's actually made of sugar but in older times it was actually a piece of coal).
For breakfast, the family eat a piece of roscon (a fruit-filled bread with a sugar frosting on it) and there is usually a novelty inside (such a coin or small gift) and tradition says that the person who finds this in their portion of roscon will have good luck for the next year.

 
It's a day that's enjoyed by the whole family but unfortunately, it's also the day that marks the official end of Christmas.
All the shops and restaurants are closed on this day so that everyone can enjoy the celebrations.