Spanish Christmas Traditions

Video Transcript

"Today we're talking about different Christmas traditions from around the world. In Spain, children actually consider the Three Wise Men as the gift bearers as opposed to Santa Claus. They believe that the Three Wise Men come by on January 6th, which is the day that they came to leave gifts for the baby Jesus. So they leave their shoes out and they leave straw and hay for the camels who are said to be very tired from the long journey. And in return, they wake up in the morning to find gifts that the Three Wise Men have left. It's a very fun tradition. In Spain they actually are a very religious country. They have mangers and nativity scenes in just about every home. And the week before Christmas is spent in prayer and gathering around the nativity scene and really reflecting on the true meaning of Christmas, which of course is the birth of Christ. It is a very celebratory time in Spain. And Spain is a country that loves to have fun. There's a lot of dancing down the streets, lots of music, and different little traditions or dances. There's a dance called Los Cesas, which actually means the sixth, which is performed by ten boys. Nobody really knows why, but there are ten boys that do the dance rather than six. But that is the traditional dance that takes place in Spain. And it seems like a very fun place on Christmas."