Over and done with

Whilst Christmas is well and truly over in Britain, here in Spain there is still a lot more to come.

Most of our friends back in the UK will spend today packing up the decorations, taking down the lights - putting Christmas away for another year. Then they will be "looking forward" to returning to work knowing that the next real break will be at Easter.

Here things are very different. Tonight we have the Christmas concert at the Auditorium to look forward to and then tomorrow the Three Kings arrive to bring gifts to all the children and I dare say to a lot of adults as well.

Even though Santa Claus has made big inroads into the Spanish culture, the Three Kings still reign supreme as far as gift bringing is concerned. That seems to me more logical. Christmas is a celebration of the birth of Christ. Eleven days later, the Three Kings, who brought gifts to Christ have their day. Whilst I'm sure many children now get some sort of present on Christmas Day, most have to wait until the 5th for their main presents and so they should.

In my opinion, the whole concept of the Three Kings is more believable. After all it does take a stretch of the imagination, even for a child, to believe that some guy drives a sleigh pulled by reindeer through the sky to deliver presents. Here in Spain, the children actually see their Majesties on floats in a parade. It seems to me a much more credible way of bringing gifts.

We will then wait until the 6th to pack Christmas away as we should. The lights and the trimmings will come down and the stuffed tiger, chair and figure will be gone from the barber's shop and put away until Christmas Eve next year.