The Day of the Dead!

Today is Halloween, so tonight we can expect a stream of garishly dressed kids to be knocking at our door demanding “trick or treat”. For me however this is all very new and a sign of cultural globalization. Sure Halloween was recognized in the UK as I grew up as a time for witches and beasties but “Trick or Treat is an entirely American concept that has swept the world. Hardly surprising that kids love this win/win event; sanctioned blackmail with sweets as a reward and the chance to be really naughty if someone doesn’t pay up!

In Spain however the big day is the 1^st November. In the UK it was “All Saints Day” but in Spain it is “The Day of the Dead”. This is the florist’s Christmas with the flower stall at the entrance of every cemetery doing a roaring trade as the whole village or town comes to visit and remember the deceased. This could sound morbid but that is not the Spanish way! There will of course be tears but “The Day of the Dead” is a time for fond remembrances rather than sadness and a celebration of the departed and their lives.  It is, as with everything in Spain, a social occasion with families tending their own graves mingling with and reminiscing with their neighbours.

As a foreigner with family spread far and wide I always felt rather left out of these events, and not a little jealous. “The Day of the Dead” is a celebration of life, family, continuity and community that seems to have been lost elsewhere with the arrival of the  24/7 consumer society.

 

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