Here's a quick cultural lesson on Three Kings Day, which I "borrowed" from my friend Liesl's blog. (Liesl, I decided you'd explained things better than I could have, and why do it myself when you'd done such a great job already?)
"Most Spanish families wait until January 6th for the traditional visit of the Three Kings to exchange gifts. Instead of writing letters to Santa Claus, the children write a letter to the Holy Postman who gives the letter to the Three Kings.
On the Eve of Epiphany, January 5th, children leave their shoes near their bed or window on the night of January 5, often filling them with hay for the camels and horses that the Three Kings rode on. The next morning, when the children wake up, the hay is gone and the shoes are full of presents. (We did not observe this tradition, but friends of ours did this for their kids.)
During the night, the Three Kings, known as Melchior, Gaspar, and Balthazar, leave gifts in and around the shoes. January 6th, Epiphany, is heralded with parades in various cities where candy and cakes are distributed to thousands of children lining the streets."
Okay, so you have the basic info on Three Kings Day, and know that it is preceded by parades. We went to one such parade in the city of Rota. Here are a few scenes from that event...
Here's the crew my youngest son and I went with to view the parade. Unfortunately, my husband and I had to divide and conquer with the kids since the oldest had flag football practice at the same time the parade was going on. Don't feel too badly for them though, because the parade lasted a very long time, and it wound through the streets and made its way back to an area where they were able to see it too.
The kids were very excited to know that candy and toys would be thrown to parade viewers. We were lucky enough to be personally escorted by the very nice Spanish woman in the tan coat, and she kindly brought bags in which the kids could stash their parade loot.We had been told that the parade scene can be rather chaotic and aggressive. The street we were standing on went from this...
to this...
... in no time flat! Obviously this is quite a well attended event.
My son was very anxious for the parade to start. Hey, if candy and toys are in the picture, he's there! Ooh! Ooh! Ooh! Look! It's starting!
No respectable parade is complete without a band. Let's get a closer view of these musicians, shall we? 
Ooh! Aah!
Get ready, guys! She's gonna toss candy our way!
Hey, here comes the zoo!
Love the colorful hot air balloons!
Are you noticing a theme here?
OVER HERE! Throw the candy over here!
Aren't the kids cute? I'm sure it's a very big deal to be riding in the parade.
These girls really do look like little angels, don't they?
Yep... I'm seeing Disney characters too!
Beautiful young ladies in beautiful costumes!
There were more floats that I had anticipated, and I was fairly impressed by how colorful and elaborate they were.
¡Más dulces, por favor! (More candy, please!)
We actually knew some of the folks on this float as they're neighbors of ours. Evidently, the city of Rota invites someone from the base to be the Royal Postman, and it just so happens that one of our neighbors was the "chosen one." His kids and another neighborhood kid were then eligible to ride on the float.
Here's one of the Three Kings... in case you couldn't tell!
This king is tossing out candy left and right. Notice the hands reaching for candy in the lower portion of the photo.
Here comes King #3! Let's get a closer view of him...
It's over... I'm really glad we got the opportunity to see our first Spanish parade. Thanks for coming along for the replay.
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