Halloween in Spain

Several people have asked about Halloween over here, so here's a bit of an explanation: Halloween is becoming more and more popular in Europe, especially in the larger cities. It still is not hugely celebrated, but most of the students learn about it in their English classes.

Some of my students had made pretty neat crafts earlier in the week that they presented on my day with their class

Over here, they focus only on the scary side of Halloween & not on how creative it can be. If they dress up (like for a festival, there is not trick-or-treating here), it is only as a vampire, witch, ghost, spider, etc. My students (and some of the teachers) were surprised to hear that it is also very popular to wear costumes of princesses, celebrities, animals, movie characters, etc. 

Besides scary costumes, the other thing associated with the holiday is Michael Jackson's song "Thriller." I was in Sevilla on Halloween; while at The Festival of the Nations the song was played on repeat throughout the short Halloween performance that was incorporated into the festival. 

November 1st is a holiday here, not October 31st, and it's called All Saints Day. So, no school/work on Tuesday Nov. 1 means Monday Oct. 31 was a puente! (puente=bridge: when a holiday falls on a Tuesday or Thursday, they automatically turn it into a long weekend! Awesome concept, I wish America would follow suit!) This also made the 31st a popular night to go out with friends even though it was a Monday, regardless of whether the Spaniards were celebrating Halloween. A few bars had decorations and one offered a drink special, but otherwise it was just a normal night. There were more people in costumes than I expected, but most of them were study abroad students. 

My friends and I contemplated wearing our newly purchased Venetian masks