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.