And it was time to wait at street level, as always. The girls and boys of the five districts of Santa Cruz lived yesterday the illusion of seeing the Three Wise Men from the East live and, although the City Council announced that the royal procession could be followed minute by minute thanks to the geolocation of the royal floats to avoid waiting and crowds, the truth is that the page was inoperative for a good part of the afternoon. The great demand caused it to collapse, which caused families to go down to the street to wait for the passage of Their Majesties well in advance to avoid missing the royal walk. The army helicopter announced the arrival of the Three Wise Men to Santa Cruz. In a Heliodoro Rodríguez López stadium without an audience, the mayor, José Manuel Bermúdez, and the party councilor, Alfonso Cabello, were waiting for them to give them the magic key that opens all the doors of the municipality.
Immediately afterwards, Their Majesties, with their magic, multiplied to move through the five districts of the municipality. The Local Police opened and closed the different royal groups, which, in addition to the three platforms, one for each Wise King, were accompanied by a truck full of toys.
The starting points for the horseback riding were the ones where the most children gathered. That was the case of the royal procession of Salud-La Salle, which left from Madrid avenue, where the children were waiting to see Their Majesties, and some were even lucky enough to greet them very closely.
As for the promise that Melchor, Gaspar and Baltasar would circulate on their platforms at a slower speed than in previous years, it was half fulfilled. There were points of the city that passed at such speed that the little ones hardly had time to see them, while in others it was low enough so that they could greet them effusively.
The three floats of each entourage slowed down when they passed by the parts where the smallest ones were stationed. There were no excessive crowds and all the routes passed quietly, perhaps too much in districts such as the Southwest, with the longest circuit of all, in which the children of Añaza, where the royal parade ended, were waiting until very late.
In Anaga, the Kings traveled by minibus. The slopes and the narrowness of the streets did not allow the use of the platforms that their Majesties did use in the rest of the municipality. Even so, they wasted joy and greetings for all the children of Anaga, even making a stop so that the little ones could see them up close.
In the Ofra-Costa Sur District, the royal procession made the royal walk twice, since it had the smallest route of all the districts. It was the first of the walks to finish, after nine at night.
In Centro-Ifara, the pace with which it started was high. In a few minutes, the Kings went from Los Campitos to the Salamanca district, but from there, the itinerary slowed down. In the late afternoon, from Fiestas it was reported that the high influx had collapsed the web, passing the districts to inform through social networks of the points through which the royal groups were passing.
The City Council appreciated the success of the convocation of the delegates, despite the fall of the page. For the Consistory, the routes were completed and the five districts of the city were covered, at the same time that the speed and quality of the three floats stood out.
The Three Wise Men said goodbye to Santa Cruz wishing that 2023 would be the year in which they can once again deploy all their magic in the closeness and proximity of some children whom the illusion, despite everything, never leaves.
