Día de los Tres Reyes vs. Christmas

Americans have come to associate Christmas, or the birth of Christ, with images of snow, Santa Claus, ginger bread cookies, presents, eggnog, and warm family gatherings. This is in part because the media sells these images and associates them with what is supposed to be Christmas. It is said that Coca-Cola invented the modern image of Santa Claus, a complete marketing strategy.

In Spain, Christmas is not celebrated this way. Spaniards instead celebrate el Día de los Reyes Magos every January 6th. Children anxiously await presents, as do Americans on Christmas, yet these presents do not come from Santa Claus. Instead from 3 magical kings that were present in the birth of Christ. They're names are "Melchor,""Gaspar," and "Baltasar" and they arrived in camels each bringing Baby Jesus a gift.

• Melchor, an old man with a long white beard, comes from Europe and brings "la mirra" which is a reddish aromatic substance that is common in the Middle East and Somalia. It was very valuable in ancient times and was used for the elaboration of perfumes. This gift symbolizes the man.
• Gaspar is blonde and the youngest of all and he comes from Asia. He brings incense which is the symbol of God (in many religions incense is utilized in religious rituals).
• The last king is Baltasar who is black and of African origin. He brings with him gold, the most precious of all metals. This gold is the symbol of the king.

Since the three kings arrived in camels, it is common for little kids in Spain to leave out grass in shoe boxes outside for the camels to eat, very similar to the tradition of leaving milk and cookies out for Santa Claus.

In the Spanish media, instead of people dressing up as Santa Claus like in the US, three men dress up as the 3 kings. There is a ceremony in Madrid, Sevilla, and other cities in Spain where people gather outside to see the arrival of these "kings."

In Puerto Rico, where I'm from, both Christmas and 3 King's Day are celebrated (we get double the presents ;) ) because of our Spanish and American heritage.

Bullfighting in the Spanish Media

I recently attended my first "corrida de toros," or bullfight in Madrid. Before going to see the bullfight, I was not sure how I felt about the "sport." I did not know if I was against it because it was a cruel act against the animals as 6 bulls are killed in every bullfight and they are outnumbered by numerous bullfighters which, in my opinion, did not make it a fair fight. But I also understood the fact that bullfighting is part of the Spanish culture and in Spain it is seen as an elegant dance and intimate moment between a man and a animal and that bullfighters supposedly have immense respect for the bulls. In class, we discussed how in Spaniards are equally conflicted when it comes to this topic. In general, people from Madrid are for bullfights while people from Catalonia are against it, even banning it recently.

These clashing opinions on bullfighting can be seen in the Spanish media, specifically, in Spanish newspapers. When bullfighting was prohibited in Catalonia, La Vanguardia, a conservative newspaper that supports the monarchy and is Catalan from Barcelona, had the headline "Adiós al Toreo" implying that the prohibition revived the tension between Spaniards and Catalans.

El Mundo, on the other hand, which is a conservative People's Party newspaper from Madrid, had the headline "Triunfaron los Animales" which demonstrated their strong opinions against the prohibition.

 ABC, the official newspaper of the monarchy from Madrid which is very controversial, was less polite in expressing their pro-bullfight opinions with the headline "La Farsa Nacionalista Acaba con los Toros en Cataluña." All of these headlines were accompanied by images that expressed the paper's strong opinions. 

After attending a bullfight and now being able to formulate my own opinion, I am respectfully against them. I do not find entertainment in watching an animal be killed. I understand the culture behind it and therefore I respect Spaniards who are pro-bullfights. They have also grown around bullfights and with the mentality that they are part of their Spanish heritage. We are all entitled to our own opinions.