The President of Andalucia has come under fire after painting himself black to play Baltazar during this year’s Three Kings’ parade.
Juanma Moreno said it was an ‘honour’ to portray the biblical character during the traditional procession in Sevilla, which sees floats pass through the city as sweets are thrown out to children.
However, when the conservative Partido Popular (PP) leader shared a photo of himself online, he was met with a wave of negative comments.
Among them was Juan Antonio Delgado, a former Guardia Civil officer and now minister of the Junta de Andalucia for the left-wing Podemos party.
He fumed: ‘Painting one’s face black to recreate King Balthazar is blackface.
‘In the middle of 2026, for a regional president (Moreno Bonilla) to appear like that normalises a racist and colonial gesture. It’s not humour or tradition, it’s a lack of respect and the legitimization of racism.’
Fellow X user Belen Llorente, agreed, writing to Moreno: ‘You clearly don’t know what blackface is… What you’ve done is a very serious racist act. Shameful.’
‘What a lack of respect,’ wrote Juanjo Lledo, while another said: ‘You have to be a moron to do that….’
David Segovia fumed: ‘He has posted more messages of self-promotion of his racism and of “people” applauding him than about the Public Health that he has destroyed…’
Pedro Vargas added: ‘Racist and ignorant, I hope you’ve asked the Three Wise Men for a brain neuron!’
However, many defended Moreno, claiming that ‘blackface’ is an ‘imported offence’ from the US.
Emilio Montilla, a financier from Cordoba, based in Madrid, wrote: ‘I want to congratulate Juanma Moreno Bonilla for distancing himself from the wokism of the Spanish left and honoring our traditions by being King Baltasar.
‘”Blackface” is a nonsense imported from the United States that makes no sense whatsoever in Spain, since racial segregation has never existed here.
‘It’s curious how our progressives claim to be so anti-Yankee, and yet they buy into all the ideological junk coming from Anglo-Saxon countries.’
Another agreed, writing: ‘I personally believe that the whole blackface thing is a concept quite imported from the USA, which here has little traction (the same as the N word).
‘That doesn’t detract from the fact that it’s ridiculous for him to go as Baltasar and not as any of the others, and that there aren’t Afro-Spaniards in those roles.’
‘Let’s keep importing foreign traumas,’ wrote another sarcastically.
The Spanish Eye has contacted the Junta de Andalucia for comment.
It came after dozens of Sevilla locals painted their faces black during a traditional ceremony ahead of the parade.
The locals were dressed as so-called ‘beduinos’ for the annual event, which sees the Royal Herald, who represents the three kings, collect thousands of letters from children.
He requests the Mayor’s permission for the Kings to enter the city and to collect the letters.
Various neighbourhoods and church brotherhoods (like in Los Remedios or Dos Hermanas) organise their own Heraldo or Cartero Real (Royal Postman) to collect letters.
The main parade, called the Cabalgata de Reyes, takes place in the afternoon of January 5, where the Kings parade through the streets throwing sweets and gifts to children.
The ‘beduinos’ are members of the procession entourage who represent the desert nomads who helped guide the Three Wise Men (Melchior, Caspar, and Balthazar) on their journey from the East to Bethlehem.
In the main parade, they walk alongside or follow the floats of the Three Kings.
They are typically costumed in traditional desert attire, such as robes and turbans, and often accompany the camels.
Similar to the Kings and other performers, beduinos often interact with the children watching the parade, tossing candy and small gifts to them.
Each year, many cities come under fire for using white actors painted black to play the part of King Balthazar.
Last year, Malaga vowed to only hire black people for the role, following in the footsteps of other big cities.
However, many continue to paint white actors black, arguing that there is no ‘malice’ behind the tradition.
Blackface typically describes the practice of using makeup to create a racist and demeaning caricature of Black people.
Originating in 19th-century American minstrel shows, the practice is steeped in centuries of racism and the perpetuation of harmful stereotypes.
Read more Andalucia news at the Spanish Eye.
