Sweets rain on Kings parades

With some magical reorganisation, the Three Kings parades across Malaga province largely went ahead on Monday this week as Storm Francis moved away.

Instead of everyone getting wet, it was the traditional sweets that rained down on spectators, thrown from the floats and participants. Some town halls brought their parades forward to the morning of 5 January or reformatted them into a static version, with the aim of preserving safety and ensuring that the magic reached the youngest children.

In Malaga city, the parade set out later than expected in the end. "We were here early because we wanted to see the Three Kings. We don't want to miss a thing, and then we need to go to bed early," said eight-year-old brother and sister Pablo and Elena, in expectation of presents arriving at home overnight.

In Benalmádena, among other towns, the parades were brought forward to avoid the rain forecast for the afternoon. The council played it safe and held both scheduled parades in the morning, first in Benalmádena Pueblo and later in Arroyo de la Miel, keeping the full display of floats, street performances, and children's entertainment as planned.