The three wise men give you presents

It is traditional in Spain for children to wait for the arrival of the three wise men (los reyes magos), which happens on January 6th each year. On that morning, if the boy or girl have been good,they are rewarded accordingly, hopefully, if not, they will find heaps of coal and ashes to play with. That does not happen very often these days, anyway. But for people who want to know about traditions and festivities the eve has more interest. Between 5 p.m. and 6 p.m., in every town and city, there is a parade with tens or even hundreds of participants, all dressed up as Romans, Jews or Arabs mostly. They are there to show that the three wise men have arrived, each of them with their suite, and that they bring the presents to the children, the three wise men being the last to turn up. It is not the same all around Spain. In the Baske Country they have their own tradition, an old man called Olentzero, and a similar character is starting to be claimed in Asturias, but the show is not quite the same.