28th December: Spain´s Day Of The Innocents

The ‘Día de los Santos Inocentes’ (Holy Innocents’ day) on 28 December in Spain, is a day of pranks and practical jokes. It is similar to April Fools’ Day with somewhat darker roots.

Christian tradition tells that King Herod I—ancient ruler of Judea & Samaria—ordered the slaughter of all male children born in the town of Bethlehem under the age of two, in an attempt to get rid of the infant Jesus of Nazareth.

Hence the innocents name given to mark the day: at such a young age, it was thought to be impossible that these children could have committed any kind of sin before they were killed.

Legend has it that Jesus’ parents fled before the massacre was carried out, and so the baby was saved.

The ‘joke’, therefore, was on Herod and this is thought to be the origin of the tradition of playing pranks on family and friends. According to religious beliefs, the babies murdered by Herod went to heaven as the first Christian martyrs.

Much like April Fools, celebrated in the UK and United States, the ‘Día de los Santos Inocentes’ is a day of practical jokes and silly wind up news stories that always attract the gulllible.

Once the “innocent” has fallen for the joke the prankster yells out ‘¡Inocente, inocente!’

Many towns and villages across Spain have their own traditional way of celebrating this day. One of the most widespread pranks is to stick a figure, cut out of paper, on someone’s back without them realising.

In Ibi in Alicante the celebrations, reinstated in 1981, take the shape of the ‘Festa dels Enfarinats’, where a ‘battle’ takes place, using eggs, flour and other ingredients and firecrackers as ammunition. After being halted for several decades due to the Civil War and the turbulent times that followed, on 28 December 1981 the Day of the Holy Innocents or ‘El día de los Santos Inocentes’ was celebrated once again in the Alicante town of Ibi.

So look out today for news that may seem fantastical – beware – for it is!