Christmas in Fuerteventura, a guide to the festive season
Christmas in Fuerteventura begins only a couple of weeks earlier, not in September which is when it starts in England! Shops and houses put up decorations and Christmas trees much as we do at home. Although the shops get a little busier there isnīt a mad rush to shop.
In Puerto del Rosario, there is a large nativity scene recreating life in Bethlehem. It is put up by the new bus station, a couple of weeks before Christmas in it is well worth walking round as some of the characters depicted are quite amusing. The lady in the photograph is doing her laundry by the river.
Christmas is a little mixed up over here. Father Christmas, or Papa Noel visits children on Christmas eve, but here he needs a ladder as there arenīt any chimneys to climb down. Although Spanish children will probably get gifts from him too, the Spanish tradition is for children get their gifts in the early hours of the sixth of January on Dia de los Reyes or Kings day. This is the day when the three kings arrived to give their gifts to baby Jesus.
The three kings arrive, strangely enough by ferry around 5pm on the evening of the fifth, and Melchor, Gaspar, Balthasar climb on their camels for a tour of the town, all the time throwing out sweets for the children (and adults).There is a huge scrabble around the floor to pick up the sweets.
It is traditional for Spanish children to leave their shoes outside filled with hay or carrots for the camels. Bad children get coal in stead of presents and you can buy sweets that look like coal if you feel like traumatising your children.
Large crowds wait for the kings, and at the end of the procession, the kings take letters from the children telling them what presents they would like when the kings visit their homes that night. It Puerto this was held by the Nativity Scene. The evening is good fun for all and everyone ends up with a big bag of sweets.
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