In the category ‘interesting facts about Spanish culture’, today about the celebartion of Kings day, the 6th of January. In Spanish usually abbreviated to ‘Reyes’ (Kings), this is traditionally the big holiday celebrated in Spain with a big family dinner and presents. The tradition is based on the religious story of the three kings visiting baby Jesus and bringing him presents, the way that most western European and the USA celebrate Christmas. Most Spanish families celebrate Christmas, like other cultures, with a big family dinner and maybe one or two small presents for the children, though most will just have a family dinner. The big celebration doesn’t take place til the 6th of January with another big dinner and and overload of presents.

This is why in Spain the Christmas holidays usually don’t start til the 23rd or 24th of December and continues all the way til the 7th of January, to give the  children at least a day to play with their presents before returning to school. A bit different to other cultures where children have the entire 2 weeks to play with their presents…