This time, it is Spanish newspaper El Mundo that recalls this "remarkable" custom that "every year" is criticised for encouraging children to smoke on the 5th and 6th of January.
During the Three Kings Day celebrations in Vale de Salgueiro, which has 344 inhabitants (according to the 2021 Census), in addition to music, dancing and fireworks, "children go down to the street to buy cigarettes, or to receive them from their parents".
For the inhabitants, as highlighted by Mayor Carlos Cadavez, in 2019, in an interview given to AFP, this tradition does not cause any issues, as it has existed for many years and is a rite of passage into adulthood.
“A 101-year-old neighbour told us how this tradition existed when his parents were there,” he concluded.