Cabalgata de Reyes 2027: Madrid, Barcelona, Alcoy

1. Madrid: a large city parade, departure announced for 6:00 pm

Cabalgata de Reyes in Madrid

Free entry About 3 hours Cold evening 5 January 2027

Expected programme, still to be confirmed. The official esmadrid listing gives 5 January and a departure from 6:00 pm, but its text describes a past edition, and the 2027 route has not been published. In the latest documented edition, the parade left from Plaza de San Juan de la Cruz, went down the Paseo de la Castellana and then the Paseo de Recoletos, and ended at Plaza de Cibeles, where the Kings arrive. That route is not confirmed for 2027.

In the latest edition on record, according to the City: 15 floats and around 2,100 participants, under the theme “El saber compartido” (shared knowledge). The parade brought together 7 national and 3 international groups. For a longer stay in the capital, the Christmas lights of Madrid pair well with the evening of 5 January.

Highlights

• The Kings’ arrival at Cibeles: in the latest documented edition (El Español, 5 January 2026), Melchor, then Gaspar, then Baltasar arrived between 8:09 pm and 8:17 pm.
• District parades followed the central parade, according to the district programme of the latest edition on record.
• An accessibility service: reserved spaces, sign language, audio description and an induction loop, as listed by navidadmadrid.com.

Pixidia tip: plan on walking or taking the metro, and bring something warm: in the latest documented edition, the wind chill dropped to around minus 4°C in the evening (El Español, 5 January 2026).

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The table below separates the figures from the latest documented edition from the 2027 status.

Source: esmadrid, “Cabalgata de Reyes” listing (2027 status) and El Español, live blog of 5 January 2026 (past times), checked on 18 October 2026.

Road closures in the latest documented edition started early. The Castellana was closed from 9:30 am on part of its route, then the Castellana–Recoletos–Prado axis was closed gradually from 3:30 pm and fully between 6:00 pm and 9:00 pm (El Español, 5 January 2026). These details come from the press, not from an official statement. For 2027, treat them as a rough guide only.

Extra metro services were announced for 2026: lines 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 8 and 10, from 4:00 pm to 10:00 pm on the evening of 5 January, according to a Comunidad de Madrid statement whose date has not been verified. The stations near the former route are Colón (lines 4 and 5), Banco de España and Sevilla (line 2), Gregorio Marañón (lines 7 and 10) and Nuevos Ministerios (lines 6, 8 and 10), based on the usual maps and not confirmed for 2027. EMT bus lines are diverted during the parade: the City counted 29 in the latest documented edition, according to a municipal press release.

You can also take part rather than watch. In 2026, the City opened volunteer sign-ups on navidadmadrid.com. They were reserved for people aged 18 and over, and places went to whoever signed up first. Attendance at fittings and rehearsals was compulsory, according to the municipal press release. For 2027, no sign-up has been published as of 18 October 2026.

According to Discapnet (undated article), five areas reserved for people with disabilities were marked out along the route of the latest edition, from Plaza de San Juan de la Cruz to Cibeles. Each person could bring two companions and had to show an accreditation. Reconfirm this with the City as the date gets closer. The parade is free according to the esmadrid listing and takes place on the public highway.

2. Barcelona: the Kings arrive by sea

Cavalcade of the Kings in Barcelona

Free entry 6:00 pm to 9:10 pm (2026 edition) Cool night Evening of 5 January

In Barcelona the evening starts with an unusual arrival: in the 2026 edition, the Kings came ashore by sea at the Portal de la Pau. Their arrival was scheduled for 4:30 pm, aboard a sailing boat, with the handover of the keys to the city to the mayor, according to the French-language page of webarcelona.net. The night parade left Ciutadella park at 6:00 pm, crossed the centre, passed the Avinguda del Paral·lel and the Sant Antoni market, then reached the Font Màgica de Montjuïc around 9:10 pm. According to 3Cat, the 2025 edition drew around 750,000 people; this press figure has not been cross-checked.

The official barcelona.cat website only presents the 2026 edition: no 2027 page has been found. Nothing guarantees that the 2026 route will be repeated in 2027. If you combine Barcelona with the cathedral Christmas market, the Fira de Santa Llúcia is a good way to wander before the parade.

Highlights

• A night parade linking the port, the centre and Montjuïc, with floats, giants and marching bands.
• No capacity limit has been announced for the 2026 edition: entry cannot be booked.
• The Kings arrive by sea at the Portal de la Pau.

Pixidia tip: arrive an hour early if you come with young children, to get a place at the front. Dress warmly and bring ear defenders for the little ones, as the floats are loud.

The table below gives the timed points published for the 2026 edition. It is a benchmark, not a 2027 programme.

Source: barcelona.cat, “La cavalcada de Reis” (2026 edition) and webarcelona.net, checked on 18 October 2026.

Access is controlled. In the 2026 edition, the spaces reserved for people with reduced mobility were at Pla de Palau, at the corner of Plaça de les Drassanes and Avinguda del Paral·lel, at the Sant Antoni market, on Plaça d’Espanya on the line 3 side, and at the Portal de la Pau. They require an accreditation, but no booking. According to the press, access control was handed to a new company in 2026, Nordeste, after failings were found at the previous operator (Nació Digital, 2026).

The official pages and webarcelona recommend public transport and advise against driving. According to the TMB guide, the nearest stations are Espanya (lines 1 and 3, FGC line L8 not confirmed), Arc de Triomf (line 1), and Drassanes and Liceu (line 3). This information comes from the 2026 edition and still needs confirming for 2027.

3. Alcoy: a tradition documented since 1866, and a system that has changed

The biggest change concerns the pages. In 2026, the town hall decided they would no longer come into homes by balconies or steep stairs, for safety reasons. According to Alicante Plaza (3 January 2026, updated 4 January), gifts are now handed over inside the buildings. Older descriptions of the festival still show the ritual. Don’t promise this scene to your children without confirming it with the town hall first.

The announced departure is 6:00 pm, at dusk, from the upper part of town on Avinguda d’Elx, according to alcoi.org, which gives no year. That page describes a route via the Camí, then Plaça d’Espanya, where the Kings attend the Adoration. According to the local press, the 2026 edition left shortly after 6 pm, in rain at the entrance to the square, and the Adoration was brought forward.

The route is not fixed in the sources. The alcoi.org page, which is undated, places the end of the parade on Avinguda del País Valencià, around 10:00 pm. Spanish Wikipedia says that since 2020 the parade ends at the Pont Maria Cristina. The two versions don’t match, and this article does not settle it: no 2027 route is asserted. Before you travel, ask the Ayuntamiento d’Alcoi to confirm.

We found no source on parking near the Campamento Real. For everything else, the Alcoy town hall remains the reference for the year’s traffic instructions.

One sensitive point is worth knowing. In 2023, according to the press (the date is inferred from the text), Podemos deputy Rita Bosaho asked for the pages to be withdrawn, after criticism from the association Afroféminas over blackface. Her party disavowed that request, and the parade went ahead in 2024 without a major debate (Alicante Plaza). The subject could come back, and it helps explain the festival.

4. How to reach the three cities

Madrid and Barcelona are linked by train, but no useful train serves Alcoy. The Alcoy–Xàtiva railway line has been closed since 24 March 2025. Completion is announced for September 2027 by Alicante Plaza, citing Adif (3 July 2026). A train serving Alcoy on 5 January 2027 is therefore unlikely. A replacement bus serves the same stops as the closed stations, but its end date has not been updated.

Source: UPV, getting to the Alcoy campus by bus, Alicante Plaza, July 2026 and Omio (aggregator, unofficial), checked on 18 October 2026.

The simplest option from the coast is the bus from Alicante, about 1 h 30 according to the UPV, or from Valencia, about 2 h. From Barcelona, the aggregators assume a connection in Valencia; from Madrid, they list a direct bus of about 4 h. These journey times have not been verified for 2027. Madrid to Barcelona takes about 2 h 30 to 3 h by train, with advertised fares from €9 to €24 depending on the operator (everyrail, Omio; instant quotes, undated).

From Alicante-Elche airport, you can take a taxi or ride-hailing car, or a bus to the Alicante bus station and then a bus to Alcoy. No fares have been checked for these options. No driving time has been verified either, so compare the routes before you set off.

5. Calendar from 4 to 7 January 2027

The days around the evening of 5 January vary from city to city. The table below gathers the known dates, with their status. To plan a year-end stay, the Christmas holidays in Spain give a broader view of the calendar.

Source: Garrigues, publication of the 2027 working calendar, esmadrid and spain.info (extract), checked on 18 October 2026.

A low-reliability aggregator (viajescolar.com) announces Pastoretes on Sunday 3 January 2027. Neither the town hall nor an official source confirms that date, so it is not in the table.

6 January 2027 is a national public holiday: it is Epiphany, a Wednesday, listed in the 2027 calendar, according to the Garrigues law firm in its article of 13 October 2026 (reference BOE-A-2026-21254). A regional calendar listing also classes it as a holiday in Madrid, to be reconfirmed. Local public holidays for 2027 are not confirmed, though: not in Alcoy, where the municipal decision was still to be sent to the Generalitat, and not in Barcelona, where the only dates cited (17 May and 24 September) come from a law firm.

What other guides don’t tell you

A City of Madrid page, undated and not opened during our check (HTTP 403 error), announced 10,500 places approved for the parade stands. We have not cross-checked that figure: it only tells us the stands exist. No paid seated places are reported, and reserved places are not named. Check with the City as the date approaches.