We three kings of Orient are

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As I came home at lunchtime the streets in the centre of town were heaving with shoppers. In the little square by the Icue statue there was a long queue of youngsters waiting to have their picture taken with whichever one of the Three Kings was on duty. I know it wasn't the African one, Baltasar, and I don't think it was Melchor because, if memory serves me right, he has a big white beard to prove he's European so it was probably Gaspar the darker skinned Asian representative. I could be wrong of course because I wasn't brought up with the iconography of the Three Kings. Strictly Santa Claus in Yorkshire.

At work this evening one of my students seemed most put out that I'd never heard of Swarovski jewellery or more particularly their glassware. He'd bought his girlfriend something from their range for Christmas. Just to make sure that the message was rammed well and truly home my last student of the evening asked if I was ready for Christmas. She confessed to still having food to buy.

In the UK, and amongst the British ex pats here, Christmas may be done and dusted but that's not the case for Spaniards. The Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and New Year's Eve meals have come and gone but the last meal of the Christmas four, Three Kings, is yet to come. For children too the evening of the 5th to 6th is still the big gift giving day despite the inroads that the Anglo Saxon Santa Claus has made.

I must remember to buy us a Roscón for the 6th. I wouldn't like to miss out on the last calorie bomb of the Christmas festivities!

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