One more year the Three Wise Men brought us a lot of bags of hope. And on this occasion La Vanguardia had the honor of infiltrating behind the scenes of the parade of Melchor, Gaspar and Baltasar through the streets of Barcelona. And with such a privilege comes great responsibility.
Thousands of people aspire every year to be part of the largest show ever held in this city. Actors, dancers and countless city residents who just want to participate in some way. The City Council has no choice but to organize a draw that inevitably leads to many frustrations.
“No, it’s not easy,” say a few students from a dance school, dressed as candy makers, queuing in front of one of the few portable urinals arranged behind the Ciutadella park, where the floats impatiently await the moment to get ready. on going. “Let’s see, you have to come for a few days to rehearse and try on the suits.”
“And on the day in question, you have to go to a warehouse in the morning to have your makeup done.” “The day seems very long, but then when you get home you are so excited, so happy, so happy… that you can only think about repeating next year.” “It’s just that when they bring you on the buses and you see how the people waiting for the parade look at you, your heart is happy.”
Then it sparkles, a few drops begin to fall from the sky and some people get nervous. The royal camarlencs distribute umbrellas and raincoats. “We are late.” “They say that the candy battery may not hold up to the rain.” “Who says that?”. “Ignore him. “It’s the nerves.” Yes, days ago Their Majesties established the necessary contingency measures to deal with any precipitation. Only the Urban Guard horses could not participate as planned.
“Look, the nicest thing that has happened to me on a parade was one time when I saw a child in the audience crying his eyes out, and I asked him what was wrong, and he told me that he had forgotten the letter… And I told him that nothing was happening, that the Three Wise Men have magical archives where they keep all the wishes of the whole world. Then the boy’s face lit up, and he stopped crying. And I, well, I will never forget it…”
Do you know that many adults still write to the Three Wise Men? It is explained by real postmen, who every year collect a lot of letters from people who simply tell them the things that happened to them in the last year, who only hope that they bring them a little encouragement to get ahead…
And then, as you get soaked to the skin and your royal camarlenc vest gets soaked, walking through the streets next to the charcoal burners and their chimneys hanging from your chest, with fogged-up clothes, looking into people’s faces, you understand everything. Children don’t care if it snows, rains or hails on such a day. Everyone smiles big-eyed, dazed, ecstatic. And you realize that everyone wants to participate in this illusion. Fathers, uncles, brothers, anyone who passes by here. Everyone in some way wants to be part of this innocent joy. Everyone wants to make children believe that if they behave well they will do much better, that if we are good our lives will be better, we will live in a much more beautiful world. Then, soon, many of these dear desires are buried by the daily whirlwind, but, well, at least these days… More than 600,000 people came to this parade.
Melchior himself said it, shortly after disembarking at the Moll de la Fusta. His Majesty recalled that the Three Wise Men have a lot of superpowers, that they can carry gifts for everyone and that they can also be in several places at the same time. But Melchor also recognized that they alone cannot face so many challenges, that they cannot prevent so many children from suffering in so many places in the world, that they need the help of all children to build a better world than they alone, without the children. They simply can’t…
The fact is that this year Melchor had the invaluable help of Mag Lari, and Gaspar with that of the deputy mayor of Urban Planning, Laia Bonet, and Baltasar with that of Olamide Adisa, a member of the group dedicated to the promotion of African music The Voodoo Club…
And Mayor Jaume Collboni made his debut as mayor in these issues – on other occasions he participated in the parade assuming other roles. And after giving Their Majesties the bread, the salt and the magic key that opens all the doors of all the houses in Barcelona, ??he asked them to protect all the children of the world, and also a little help to clean up Barcelona. Let’s see if together, at least this year…
