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CHRISTMAS

What’s open in Spain on January 6th?

In Spain, January 6th and the arrival of 'los Reyes' (the Three Wise Men) is a bigger occasion than Christmas. It's a national holiday and this year it falls on a Saturday, so which supermarkets and other establishments are open and which ones close?

Published: 5 January 2024 16:12 CET
What's open in Spain on January 6th?
A woman walks past a Mercadona supermarket in Madrid. Photo: Thomas COEX/AFP.

Saturday 6th January is Epiphany, or Three Kings Day as it’s known in Spain.

For many Spaniards, January 6th is actually a bigger day than December 25th. That means it’s a national holiday, which means that many establishments (supermarkets, gyms, pharmacies, bars and restaurants) are either closed or open with reduced timetables.

But that doesn’t mean everything is closed.

Here’s what you need to know.

READ ALSO: Why Spain loves the Three Kings more than Santa

Supermarkets

Mercadona

Mercadona stores are closed on Saturday January 6th.

With the 7th being a Sunday, that means Mercadona will be closed all weekend.

Aldi

Aldi will not be open on Epiphany either. However, some stores will open with reduced timetables on Sunday 7th.

You can check your local store here.

Carrefour

Carrefour will be closed on Saturday 6th.

However, some Carrefour Express shops will open with reduced hours on the 6th.

You can check which ones will open and their timetable here on the store locator.

Alcampo

Alcampo stores will also be closed on January 6th, though some local stores may open on Sunday 7th with reduced timetables, depending on the location.

You can check their store finder tool here to see local hours.

Día

Día supermarkets will be closed on Saturday 6th. It seems some branches will open on Sunday 7th, though again it depends where.

You can check your local store here.

Hipercor and Supercor

Hipercor and Supercor, both part of the El Corte Inglés brand, will both be closed on 6th January, though some Supercor stores may open with reduced timetables.

You can use the Supercor shop finder here to find your local store.

Are pharmacies open on Saturday 6th in Spain?

Most pharmacies seem to be opening with ‘holiday’ hours on the 6th, which is usually 9am-2pm, though it will depend on the individual branch.

In bigger towns and cities there will likely be some open.

Are bars and restaurants open on Saturday 6th in Spain?

Similarly, bars and restaurants will decide on an individual basis. Your local bar might be shut, but a 100 Montaditos or other chains will likely open.

Are shops open on Saturday 6th in Spain?

Again, it depends. Your local carnicería (butcher) and other family-owned local businesses will probably be closed, but bigger chains in cities will likely open, though perhaps with a reduced timetable.

In Spain, a number of establishments are exempt from normal commercial opening hours legislation and can therefore decide for themselves whether or not to open on public holidays.

According to the law, they are:

“Establishments mainly engaged in the sale of pastries and confectionery, bread, ready meals, newspapers, fuels and combustibles, florists and plants.

Convenience stores.

Commercial establishments located at border points, stations and means of land, sea and air transport.

Establishments located in areas of great tourist influx” — known as ZGATs in Spain.

That basically means that if you’re in a major city, the chances are that most shops will be open for at least some of the day.

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CHRISTMAS

Blackface lives on in Spain during Epiphany despite growing outrage

After a council in Madrid sent school children a Christmas video featuring a white actor in blackface playing King Balthazar, the debate over the outdated and racist practice has been reignited in Spain.

Published: 5 January 2024 14:01 CET
Blackface lives on in Spain during Epiphany despite growing outrage

For many people, the strong sense of tradition in Spain is one of its most attractive traits. But not all traditions translate well into the modern world, and Spain can often seem behind the times in this regard to outsiders.

This has certainly been the case in Madrid this week, as a district council in Chamartín inadvertently reopened the seemingly annual debate about blackface in Spain after it sent a Christmas video to school children featuring an actor in dark makeup playing King Balthazar.

Local children were offered the chance to receive personalised Christmas messages from one of the Three Kings, and the council published an online form that parents had to complete in order for their children to receive the messages by WhatsApp.

READ ALSO: Why Spain loves the Three Kings more than Santa

Yet many parents were shocked to see that the messages from King Balthazar were from a white actor with his face painted brown and pretending to speak Spanish with a foreign, perhaps African accent. The video has generated widespread criticism on Spanish social media.

Chamartín council told Spanish news outlet La Sexta that the personalised message service was awarded to a private company and that the ‘blackface’ actor was brought in to replace the original (presumably black) actor who was allegedly ill with COVID.

The council claims it was unaware of this, and first found out about the controversy when it saw the social media storm.

In recent years in Spain, King Balthazar has increasingly been played black actors as awareness about blackface has risen.

Anti-racism groups across the country have campaigned against the tradition, something that in Spain is seen by many as uncontroversial but in large parts of the world is considered racist, and even banned in some countries.

In 2019, football star Andrés Iniesta faced backlash after posting a photo of himself on Twitter smiling next to two friends with blacked-up faces. Blackface once even made it onto MasterChef Junior in recent years on Spain’s state broadcaster (the equivalent of the BBC).

In December 2014, over 60,000 people signed a petition calling for Madrid to choose a black man to play Balthazar in the parade, and a year later in 2015, Madrid’s City Hall announced that it would end the tradition and enlist a black actor to play Balthazar.

READ ALSO: Madrid calls time on blacking up ‘tradition’ of Three Kings parade

Yet almost a decade later, the practice of white actors painting themselves black to caricature black people is still showing up in Spain’s Christmas traditions, and the mishap in Madrid has reopened the debate about blackface in Spain.

Many Spaniards argue that it is just that, a tradition, that it’s something that’s always been done to portray Balthazar, with no malicious intent, and that it doesn’t say anything about Spain as a country.

Some on the Spanish right even suggest efforts to ban it is an example of overzealous political correctness.

Critics on the other hand suggest that blackface shows the unconscious racism still present in Spain, and that in a modern country, black actors should be used to reflect the increasingly diverse nature of Spanish society.

The often tone-deaf nature of debate surrounding racism in Spain was most recently brought out when Real Madrid star Vinicius Junior was repeatedly racially abused during matches.

The blackened up page boys of Alcoy’s Epiphany parade, in Spain’s Valencia region. Photo: Rafa Rufino Valor/Wikipedia

Yet traditions considered racist abroad live on in Spain. In Alcoy in Alicante, their annual Epiphany parade – Cabalgata Reyes Magos– features hundreds of black ‘page boys’ in exaggerated blackface as they give out presents to local children.

For many locals, including thousands who have signed petitions to maintain the controversial tradition, there is nothing remotely racist about the practice.

Deputy Mayor of Alcoy Jordi Valentí, told Al Jazeera that the tradition “has no racist or slave component.”

“On the contrary, it is the most magical character,” he added. “What’s more, all the children prefer to give their letter to King Balthazar.”

According to the Spanish Observatory of Racism and Xenophobia, part of the government’s Ministry of Migration and Inclusion, there are between 700,000 and 1.3 million African people and people of African descent living in Spain.

The study hasn’t been conducted along racial lines, referring instead to “race” as a cultural construct, but it does focus on the country’s “afro” or “black” population and the struggles they face.

Spain is not the only European country that lags behind its neighbours when it comes to blackface.

In the Netherlands, ‘Black Pete’ is a Christmas character that many Dutch people wear blackface to dress up and take part in celebrations.

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