Powder Day or Day of the Powder ( es, Día de los Polvos) is celebrated in the southern

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

village of

Tolox Tolox is a town and municipality in the province of Málaga in the autonomous community of Andalusia in southern Spain. The municipality has a population of 2,317 (2006). It is situated in the centre of the Sierra de las Nieves Nature Park at ...

Shrove Tuesday Shrove Tuesday is the day before Ash Wednesday (the first day of Lent), observed in many Christian countries through participating in confession and absolution, the ritual burning of the previous year's Holy Week palms, finalizing one's Lenten s ...

, the final day of the annual Tolox

carnival Carnival is a Catholic Christian festive season that occurs before the liturgical season of Lent. The main events typically occur during February or early March, during the period historically known as Shrovetide (or Pre-Lent). Carnival typi ...

. This local

tradition A tradition is a belief or behavior (folk custom) passed down within a group or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examples include holidays or ...

involves the throwing of

talcum powder Talc, or talcum, is a clay mineral, composed of hydrated magnesium silicate with the chemical formula Mg3Si4O10(OH)2. Talc in powdered form, often combined with corn starch, is used as baby powder. This mineral is used as a thickening age ...

at one another. One reason given for the custom is that it takes place the day before

Ash Wednesday Ash Wednesday is a holy day of prayer and fasting in many Western Christian denominations. It is preceded by Shrove Tuesday and falls on the first day of Lent (the six weeks of penitence before Easter). It is observed by Catholics in the Rom ...

, on which the

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...

declares to the faithful "Remember, man, that you are dust, and unto dust you shall return"."Powder for everybody"

Aifos Promociones Inmobiliarias
/ref> A more likely origin of the tradition is said to have its roots in a

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

Moorish The term Moor, derived from the ancient Mauri, is an exonym first used by Christian Europeans to designate the Muslim inhabitants of the Maghreb, the Iberian Peninsula, Sicily and Malta during the Middle Ages. Moors are not a distinct or se ...

riot A riot is a form of civil disorder commonly characterized by a group lashing out in a violent public disturbance against authority, property, or people. Riots typically involve destruction of property, public or private. The property targete ...

in the 16th century when Tolox, then under Christian control, had a large Moorish population. During Christmas of 1539 there was civil strife between the predominantly Moorish

peasant A peasant is a pre-industrial agricultural laborer or a farmer with limited land-ownership, especially one living in the Middle Ages under feudalism and paying rent, tax, fees, or services to a landlord. In Europe, three classes of peasants ...

s and the Christian landholders. One chronicler states that this custom originated in a dispute between a Moorish and a Christian girl who were in love with the same man. Both worked in a

bakery A bakery is an establishment that produces and sells flour-based food baked in an oven such as bread, cookies, cakes, donuts, pastries, and pies. Some retail bakeries are also categorized as cafés, serving coffee and tea to customers who ...

and as the argument grew more heated, they ended up throwing all the

flour Flour is a powder made by grinding raw grains, roots, beans, nuts, or seeds. Flours are used to make many different foods. Cereal flour, particularly wheat flour, is the main ingredient of bread, which is a staple food for many culture ...

they could find at each other."Tolox - Fiestas and Gastronomy"
In years gone by, the custom evolved that young men wanting to request their girlfriends' hand in marriage would throw flour at them. Girls not wishing be subjected to this would refrain from going out on the streets, forcing the boys to come up with ingenious ways to powder their target. A young man would dust his hands with flour and try to enter a young girl's house and smother her face with flour. If doors and windows were closed, it meant he was not desired by the girl. If the lad was still keen, he had to smartly outwit her by climbing to the roof or breaking windows and doors to get her smeared with the flour, thus winning her heart in a symbolic way, or simply to impress her. Nowadays this tradition especially appeals to the young people who hurl

instead of flour at each other, without preference or distinction as to gender or origin, until they are completely covered with it. Many outsiders come to Tolox to take part in this peculiar fiesta. Up to 3,000

kilogram The kilogram (also kilogramme) is the unit of mass in the International System of Units (SI), having the unit symbol kg. It is a widely used measure in science, engineering and commerce worldwide, and is often simply called a kilo colloquially ...

s have been known to be thrown in the village."Malaga Festival & Traditions"

www.andaluciacar.com
/ref> A similar custom takes place in

Alozaina Alozaina is a town and municipality in the province of Málaga, part of the autonomous community of Andalusia in southern Spain. It is located between Tolox, Casarabonela and Yunquera and in the foothills of the Sierra de las Nieves in its transi ...

, in which hundreds of people celebrate the "hariná", in remembrance of the times when their ancestors covered young women with wheat flour from the

mills Mills is the plural form of mill, but may also refer to: As a name *Mills (surname), a common family name of English or Gaelic origin * Mills (given name) *Mills, a fictional British secret agent in a trilogy by writer Manning O'Brine Places Unit ...

to show their love.

References

{{Culture of Andalusia Unofficial observances February observances Festivals in Spain Mardi Gras Holidays based on the date of Easter

See also

References