* Author: Jose Luis Díaz Mancebo *
The first thing I’d like to point out is that I’m not the hero in this story; I’m just another link in a chain that started before I was even born.Image may be NSFW.
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Image may be NSFW.
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On 6 January 1962 I made my debut at the Three Kings Festival organised by Compañía Eléctrica Madrileña, at the tender age of three months. In those days, the presents were distributed on calle Aduana and the children received gifts until they were twelve, so my last year in the children’s group was 1974.
Times were hard and there weren’t as many presents on the feast of the Epiphany as there are nowadays. We were really excited to receive our toys from the Three Kings and they were usually the most sought-after at the time: a Mecano set, a Jyesa brand electric train, the Rico brand radio patrol, the Jecsan brand Circus…Image may be NSFW.
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When I woke up, the only thing I wanted to do was go collect my present from the Three Kings (as a child you have no idea that it’s really from your father’s company). I never knew in advance what the gift would be, which made it even more special. Nowadays, a lot of children already know what they’re going to get, by judging from their faces, they feel just the same as I did in my day.Image may be NSFW.
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I started working in Hidroeléctrica Española in 1984, but it wasn’t until 1989 that I started helping out with the Three Kings Festival along with Andrés Albarracín, Antonio Ortiz and Jose Luis Fernández, who were members of the Board of Directors from the Central Distribution Corporate Group.
Today’s Three Kings festival is the continuation of the one where I received my first gift in 1962. In 1972 the venue changed to the Vergara cinema. Seventeen years later, in 1989, it changed again to the Cid Campeador cinema. In 2009, it was held at the Sanvy hotel and since 2010 the venue has been the Velázquez hotel.
Image may be NSFW.
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In this text I would like to pay tribute to all those that have been creating “magic” since at least 1960 every 6th January to ensure that our children enjoy their special day.
