Royal emissaries are working hard these days to reassure all the children. Although there are no great celebrations or parades in the streets, the Three Wise Men will arrive in Aragon on January 5. Each municipality studies the most appropriate way to receive Their Majesties with the only common premise of “respecting the rules against covid” and, therefore, maintaining safety distances and wearing masks at all times.
King Melchor himself has just sent a video message to the children of Tarazona in which he is seen preparing the last gifts and addressing the little ones. “This year we will arrive in a special way. We will not be able to tour the city by carriage as we used to do, but you will be able to see us from the balconies or the windows of your houses. There will be no photos or kisses, everything will be from a distance, but the night will be more magical than ever “, explains the king of barbas tongues in a message of just two minutes. From the Consistory they explain that the Kings will be divided into three routes to be able to travel the maximum possible streets and that no child is left without seeing it from their window.
In many other localities they also work this variant that it is not the children who come to see the Kings, but rather Their Majesties who go house to house to greet the little ones. This is the case of Belchite, for example, where the municipal corporation has decided on the format of the traditional parade. “To avoid the crowds typical of that day in the streets, we have decided that the Kings personally deliver the gifts at the door of each house where there are children, maintaining security measures at all times,” explains the mayor, Carmelo Pérez. Children should wait for the Three Wise Men at home, “without going outside, to reduce physical contact”, continues the mayor, who recalls that “children have taken a special role in this pandemic, demonstrating their courage and ability to adapt, and have emerged as the great adherents to the strict rules that we have had to undertake.”
Forbidden to go after the Kings
The same happens also in Mainar, in Campo de Daroca, where the rules for making a safe festive act are almost as many as the gift list of the Kings. Thus, it is pointed out that Their Majesties will walk the streets but it is expressly forbidden to go behind the parade, which will have to be without an audience. “The neighbors will have to be pending to see how the lights of the tractor arrive. Then a single person per household will be able to go out to receive the gifts ”, they indicate from the Consistory. “The rest of the people who are in the house will have to enjoy the parade from the windows or balconies,” they point out.
Mobile applications to follow the star of Bethlehem or previous appointments to see the Magi in a static parade are other of the experienced formulas. In the latter case, in Ejea de los Caballeros it is announced that Mechor, Gaspar and Baltasar will be tomorrow at the municipal sports center where they will hold a reception “following the guidelines determined by the Ministry of Health.” Although ‘static parade’ seems like a contradiction, it is a way of turning around the usual formula: instead of the Kings parading and the children huddling together waiting for the candy rain, it is the three wise men who stay still in their floats and the little ones pass around. Even if it is in a closed room, “There is more movement, more air circulation and less risk of contagion”, they justify.
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In Calatayud the Kings also wait for the kids at the fairgrounds, but they warn them that they will only attend them if they wear a mask and respect distances. Similar happens in Quinto, to mention just another sample button, where there will not be a parade either, but the City Council is preparing together with the royal pages “personalized videos” that will be sent to the children of the town. The Councilor for Culture, Jesús Porroche, explains that up to 134 messages have been recorded that the royal emissary has sent.
And what plan do the capitals have? The Three Wise Men have advanced their visit to Teruel and since last day 2 they can already be visited in the Plaza del Seminario, where the Bethlehem will be installed. This has been done, even a system of prior appointment has been established, to avoid crowds. Through the web www.reyesmagos.teruel.es those interested should choose their favorite king and request the day and time they want to go to see him. Tomorrow, the traditional parade will be replaced by a drive through all the streets of the city that children will be able to see from their balconies. The entourage will be escorted by Local Police officers who will also monitor so that spectators do not gather on the sidewalks.
In Huesca, for its part, the City Council has set up a website for children to enjoy a personalized video-message of their favorite kings. The capital of Huesca has about 5,000 children between 3 and 9 years old, which will put the loquacity of Their Majesties to the test. This initiative is an alternative to the parade that will not be held, but there are others such as the free show ‘A kings a la carte magi’ in the Santiago Escartín center or a special internet transmission of the arrival of the Kings – a program of about 45 minutes – that can be seen on YouTube.
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In Zaragoza it is known that the space set on the theme of Melchor and company in the Multipurpose room sold out its 7,000 tickets in no time. Given the unprecedented suspension of the parade in the Aragonese capital, Zaragoza Cultural has produced a show to see the arrival of Their Majesties that can be followed ‘online’ tomorrow and will be hung on municipal platforms.
At the national level, the occurrences of the different municipalities have been the most varied. In Málaga Three giant statues have been placed in the heart of the Historic Center, in Córdoba The Kings are scheduled to fly over the city in a balloon for an hour, while in Madrid The margarita is still shedding because Mayor Martínez-Almeida has not canceled the parade and it remains to be seen in what circumstances it is celebrated.
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