Tucson’s Spanish “Santa” dies of COVID

Tucson, Arizona – Ramón Gonzáles, the Spanish “Santa” of Tucson, founder of the event “Milagro en la Calle 31” and who for nearly half a century brought a smile by giving toys to children, mainly Latinos, died a victim of complications related to the COVID-19.

Born in Tucson, of Mexican descent, Gonzáles started this tradition for his home in 1970 by giving away toys he bought for about 15 of his cousins, friends, and neighborhood kids.

Known for decades as the “Miracle on 31st Street”, this children’s Christmas party, the number of the street where this Latin “Santa” lived, was repeated the following year and the next and the next.

Soon the word of “Santa” giving away toys spread, and more and more families came to Gonzáles’ house, so he started looking for donations and a better place to hold the event, which he did for 49 years. also caught the attention of the not so young.

The first thing he did was move the toy distribution to the Tucson Rodeo lot, where Santa made his “grand entrance” by descending from a helicopter and getting everyone’s attention.

In recent years, the children’s event has been held in an amphitheater at the casino del sol in Tucson, where in 2019 between 10,000 and 15,000 children received toys, food and the long-awaited visit from Santa, who arrived in a caravan of “Lowriders” cars. . .

“The most satisfying thing is to see the children smile, to see their faces light up the moment they see their gift,” Gonzáles told Efe in an interview in 2017.

Then he remembered that when he was a kid, his family didn’t have many resources, so he played with wooden toys or “whatever he could find” and pretended they were “cars” or “airplanes.”

His modest home, located west of the city of Tucson, was always open to those willing to make a donation.

For Gonzáles it has always been a priority that no child is left without toys, so since November he started contacting all possible organizations to get more and more donations that would put a smile on their face.

In December, his house looked something like the same studio for Santa Claus at the North Pole, full of dolls, carts, bicycles, stuffed animals, but at times when donations were low, Gonzáles worked harder to get the gifts and finally the miracle ” always.

Gonzáles told Efe that it was “very exciting” to hear men tell him that they had been given toys at one of their events and that they were now bringing their children for their Christmas present.

Others returned to volunteer and help with preparations, still others donated toys or money to buy them.

The day before the event, I brought a lot of the toys to the venue and spent hours with volunteers filling bags of candy and fruit to give as gifts.

Their dedication and love to host this party has inspired other organizations in Tucson to host similar events.

This year, their Christmas party would have celebrated its 50th anniversary, but due to the pandemic, they had decided to postpone the celebration and only perform a parade of cars with the presence of Santa Claus and other characters.

However, the event will be held today in honor of Gonzáles, and for the first time ever, this Latino Santa who brought so much joy to thousands of children will no longer be with them after he succumbed on December 17 due to complications from COVID-19.

“We were preparing a big party, I was very excited to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the event,” the family said in a statement.

They recalled that Gonzáles has devoted “his whole life” and efforts to preparing for this Christmas celebration, despite his health deteriorating in recent years, including surviving cardiac arrest.