Traveling Costa Del Sol by Train and Three Kings Day

Hello Everyone and happy new year! Evan here with the first issue of the Spain Weekly Journal. This is a weekly journal intended to document my life in Spain, give additional details on my life here, give behind the scenes on new videos, and touch on areas that don't appear in videos. Without further ado, lets jump in!

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Traveling Southern Costa Del Sol by Train

In last weeks video, I took the C1 line from Malaga Centro along the coast stopping at a few stations along the way before making my final stop at the end of the line in Fuengirola. This was my first time taking the train past the Airport and I was amazed to see both the bustling and quiet places along the way.
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The stop in Los Alamos was charming in a way that is hard to put into words, the train station itself felt like something out of a Japanese story or movie and was so quiet and peaceful. The walk down to the beach and along the beach was perfect first thing in the morning. The part that didn't make it into the video was the almost hour long walk from the Benalmadena's board walk to the train station, I was surprised at how disconnected that town felt. There were busses but they would have taken the same amount of time as walking.
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The final stop in Fuengirola was a delight. The surprise Medieval market really was the highlight of the trip. Seeing so many people out to enjoy the festivities, food and market put a warm smile on my face. I look forward to making more videos like these and am going to look into additional stops along the C1 line and even check out where the C2 line goes!

Why Spanish People Celebrate Three Kings Day

January 5th and 6th is Three Kings day in Spain. This is a huge day of celebration and Calbalgatas (Parades). This day is significant as instead of Santa Claus, children will give letters to the three wise men, Melchor, Gaspar, and Balthazar who went to visit and give gifts to baby Jesus. In Malaga the parade starts at the Alcazaba, goes to City Hall, before making a lap through the streets of Malaga, before ending at the Cathedral. There are floats, treats and many lights and laughs to be had. I only got to see part of the parade, but the festive energy was contagious.

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January 6th marks the end of the Holiday season in Spain.

Sabor en España

In the theme of Kings day, this week I got to try Roscón de Reyes, or King Cake. This is depicted on the right side of the table below. This is typically made with a light brioche dough and filled with a sweet cream and decorated with candied fruit of red and green. . Inside the cake is a figurine of the three wise men and whoever finds this is said to win a prize and have good luck. Also inside the cake is a Feve or 'Fava Bean' representing the Christ child and whoever gets the Feve wins a prize or gets good luck for the year ahead.

The origin of this food and tradition possible dates back to the Roman period related to the Roman Saturnali. These were festivals that were dedicated to the god Saturn in celebration of the longer days that began after the winter solstace in December.
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Sadly I did not get the King, but nor did I get the Feve and ultimately I won the prize of having a wonderful evening with friends.

Thanks to everyone who is watching my content and reading this far into the newsletter. If you have any comments, questions or suggestions please send me an email at below!