The Three Kings Parade has consolidated in recent years with a dozen floats and around 750,000 annual spectators, surpassed only by the La Mercè festivities. However, the earliest traces of the Kings' Eve celebration in Barcelona did not involve parades, but rather toy fairs that set the mood for the city, according to publications like the Diari de Barcelona.
Since yesterday was Kings' Eve, a toy fair was established in Riera del Pi, in the square of the same name and in Beat Oriol. For the same reason, Ferran VII street and others nearby were very lively.
This chronicle, published on January 6, 1885, shows how commerce was the initial driver of the celebration. In subsequent years, the fair spaces expanded to La Rambla and the vicinity of the Santa Maria del Pi church. By the early 20th century, the influx was so great that illustrious department stores like El Siglo were “extremely difficult” to access, with the public filling all departments in a compact mass, according to the Diari de Barcelona in 1900.
The parades, which acquired a charitable nature in the 20th century, were interrupted by the Spanish Civil War. The initiative was resumed in 1942 under the Francoist city council, which organized two parades: an official one, which started at the Barcelona International Exhibition grounds, and a smaller one run by the Sindicato Local de Transportes y Abestecimientos, which departed from Sant Andreu station.
The official procession of 1942, opened by the mounted Urban Guard and followed by soldiers with torches, traveled along the then Avenida de José Antonio Primo de Rivera, Passeig de Gràcia, and Plaça de Catalunya. It concluded at Plaça de Sant Jaume, where toys and sweets were distributed to the families of municipal officials, highlighting the role of the Fire Department.
