Dia de Los Santos Innocentes - Spanish April Fool's Day

El Día de Los Santos Inocentes, falls on the 28th December. What does it mean? Well, it is the Spanish equivalent of April Fool's Day, which we celebrate on 1st April.

Just like it's counterpart, tricks will be played. At one town, Ibi, near Benidorm on the Costa Blanca on the Spanish mainland, the tradition is for the workers from the local toy factory (in fancy dress) to take over the administration of justice in the streets from 9 a.m. to midday on this date. Any 'fines' they collect (extort) will go to charities and they are not subtle. They have been known to handcuff the bank manager and have removed the wheels from a vehicle. Even the police won't stop them.

December 28 in the Catholic church commemorates the assassination of all the male babies: the Innocent Saints, on Herod's orders in a vain attempt to kill the child Jesus. Since the Middle Ages, the sacrilegious have remembered this mournful event with humour and the jovial tradition has continued.

In olden days, bakers made salted tarts, people nailed coins to the floor, etc. The most usual was to cut out a paper puppet and stick it to the back of a passer-by, which they would wear without knowing and many would make jokes in bad taste.

On TV and in the newspapers in Spain, bogus stories will appear (a UFO terrorises the Royal Palace; the President runs off with the daughter of the opposition; a new planet has been discovered; all cars with registration ending in 7 must report to the police, etc., etc.), only some of which are later acknowledged to Los Santos Inocentes.

About the author: Pamela Heywood has been resident in Tenerife since 1992. This article first appeared in Tenerife Topics, a monthly newsletter that looks mostly at the other face of Tenerife from that that the tourist usually discovers. Since her Tenerife Topic days, Pamela has launched a comprehensive domain on all things Tenerife - aptly named : Secret Tenerife .

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Dia de Los Santos Innocentes - Spanish April Fool's Day