If you’ve ever travelled to Spain during the winter break you might have seen ‘La Cabalgata de Reyes’ or just heard about ‘Los Reyes magos’. It’s a celebration of the three kings who brought a present to baby Jesus the 6th of January. Melchor is the white king with white long beard who comes from Europe, then there is Gaspar who is a white male with brown or red hair and beard who comes from Asia and finally Baltasar the black king who comes from a Africa. The 6th of January they bring presents to Spanish houses. Although I know this is a really interesting topic I will explain more about it the 5th or the 6th of January.
In La Gran via every year they set up mini houses and in each one you can find a different local shops. The only exceptions are the Churros with chocolate which you will find in trucks and the candy shops which are much larger.
I believe the idea of this market is to buy gifts from local shops rather than buy them from really big business.
My favorite has always been the candy shops there are always many sweets you won’t find the rest of the year anywhere and it is always very colorful. During the three kings’ night candy is very important and they always tell little kids that if they are naughty they will get a chunk of coal (thankfully every time I receive one it was it was made out of sugar)
The churros are also amazing and ideal for the winter the only thing that many people do not like about them is that the prices are sooooo expensive during the period of time market is set up and you can get them 5 times cheaper in another place. However, it’s still one of my favorite things in the market and I always try and buy some whenever I go.
I hope you’ve enjoyed and I highly encourage you to visit this market if you ever go to Barcelona during the winter.
@dswigle