This tradition, begun in
Navarre by the Court of the Theobalds and recovered by the
Muthiko Alaiak social club, has been held since the 1970s through visits to different places in
Navarre a few days after January 6
th. On the Day of Epiphany, the monarch used to invite needy children to eat a piece of
rosco (bread roll cake), and the child who found a bean in his or her portion was
proclaimed king for a day and sat on the throne with all the pomp and ceremony of the court to the shout of "Royal, Royal, Royal!"
The fun starts at 12:00 with a proclamation, and music and dancing take over the streets of the locality until 18:00. At that hour, the mediaeval procession headed by the King of Arms and consisting of squires, knights and ladies and the three branches of the Parliament of Navarre (representatives of the town, the nobility and the clergy) walks to the church. They are followed by the
Rey de la Faba ('King of the Bean'), who is escorted by the Prince of Viana and Doña Blanca of
Navarre. At 19:00, after swearing an oath to preserve and defend the
Fueros (chartered rights) and freedoms of his town/village, the 'king' is lifted up in the midst of a warm round of applause while the hymn of Navarre sounds in the background.
Aviso
