2 is celebrated as Groundhog Day….but back to Mexico:Īnother important custom in Mexico, particularly in areas where traditions run strong, is for families to own an image of the Christ child, a niño Dios. 2 has long been thought to be a marker or predictor of the weather to come. This may be a vestige of an old Pagan Tradition since Feb. So Jesus would have been taken to the temple on February second.įebruary also 2nd marks the mid-way point between the winter solstice and spring equinox. Celebrated on February 2nd, it falls forty days after Christmas, and is celebrated by Catholics as the "Feast of Purification" or as the "Presentation of Christ in the Temple." According to Jewish law, it was customary to bring a baby to the temple after that period of time had passed. Sometimes I do love the way they think down here.ĭía de la Candelaria falls on February 2, every year and is a Mexican celebration that is a fusion of the Catholic influences and native Mexican tradition.Īs we were a club, a “committee” was soon formed to make tamales for the next months’ extravaganza which was another success…but what really lies behind this tradition? As it turns out, I may have been a little early putting the Christmas stuff away.ĭía de la Candelaria, like many other Mexican celebrations, represents a fusion of pre-Hispanic traditions and Catholic beliefs. “If you get a figurine, you get to help make tamales for everybody at another party next month” was the reply. I asked what the figurines were for as they began to appear. A Rosca de Reyes, (Spiral of Kings) is a kind of a sweet bread with figurines hidden inside. They could at least symbolise giant candles…with a bit of imagination.I was first introduced to it while I was involved with a local expat organization where we celebrated King's Day on January 6th when someone brought a Rosca de Reyes into the festivities to share with the group. How some of these local variations are related to the original celebration is anyone’s guess, especially the one in Madrid. Homemade chorizo sausages are cooked on huge bonfires. In A Pobra de Trives, Ourense, sausages are the order of the day.
In Menasalbas, Toledo, there is a horseback parade in which 11 riders and their 22 serfs carry torches through the town.Īlmonacid del Marquesado, Cuenca, is the scene of a ‘devil’ parade, hundreds of gaily clad devils cavorting around the streets. In Málaga, it is a fairly standard procession with a reenactment of the presentation of Jesus at the Temple. At the end of the day in the town plaza, the bull is ceremonially ‘killed’ and sangria is passed around to symbolise the blood of the bull. In Madrid, the streets fill with clowns dressed as Andalucían farmers (cheeky lot) who bring out young bulls (vaquillas) consisting of a wooden frame with two horns.īullfighters, to use the term exceedingly loosely, dressed in multicolored silk trousers, perform mock bullfights around town all day long. These vary from simple candlelit parades to bizarre events involving wooden bulls. It is a Christian celebration dating back to the 8th Century and in pagan folklore it denoted the middle of winter.Īlthough the basic concept of ‘purification’ is the foundation of the fiesta, it is celebrated in many different ways in Spain. The feast honours the day Mary and Joseph took Jesus to the Temple in Jerusalem forty days after his birth to perform the required sacrifice of purification. The Fiesta de la Candelaria takes place on February 2nd and is celebrated in many towns and villages throughout Spain.
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