You may or may not know that in Spain the kids get their presents from the three kings and not Santa, and that they receive them on the evening of January 4th (I think).

Throughout Spain The Three Kings arrive in processions and each area has its own take on how it should be done. In Malaga they arrive by boat before snaking through the city streets, throwing sweets to the kids. I've heard of cities where The Kings are on elephants, and when we lived in Estepona the kid's gifts were carried on the backs of camels. There's usually lots of music, excitement and the occasional casualty as the onlookers are pelted with hard sweets by The Kings and their attendants. Here in The Land Of The Smiling Mule, as always, it's scaled down. The kings arrive on tractors, their way led by the municipal band. For me you can keep your elephants, the cast of thousands, this scaled down event is packed with charm and the whole village takes part. But even better than the evening procession is what happens earlier that day, the can drag.

The Land of The Smiling Mule sits in the foothills of a range of mountains and when the wind's in the right direction clouds being blown across the Atlantic get trapped and hide the village from the rest of the world. Rumour has it that one Christmas the clouds arrived and sat so low and dense that The Three Kings couldn't find the village, so nobody got any presents that year. To ensure that never happened again the kids were told they needed to make as much noise as possible to guide The Kings to the village. So, at mid-day on January 4th all the kids drag long chains of tin cans through the streets of the village to attract the attention of The Kings. It really is VERY noisy and you can physically feel the excited tension in the air. I've been here for about five years now and never known the kids to miss out on their presents, so it proves it must work!