It’s Halloween night and not a trick or treater in sight,
no pumpkins nor candles nor a scare to be heard,
that’s because they don’t utter the word,
Happy Halloween
Halloween is relatively new to Spain, 10 years ago it wasn’t celebrated and if you wanted to you wouldn’t have been able to find a trace of Halloween in any of the stores. Fast forward to now and Halloween has found its hearts into the younger generation, but is met with strong opposition from the older. Spain being a predominately Catholic country has its roots embedded in the catholic faith and it’s celebrations; the spectacle and beauty of Semana Santa is a testament to this, the hermandads scattered through the cities each with their own patron saint, the joy and felicidades people recieve when it’s their saints day and, all major holidays and days off are usually religious in nature. It’s no wonder why a celebration that falls the day before (and the night of) All Saints day is met with feverish opposition. Many people feel that with the focus on Halloween, All Saints day is losing its religious importance, that children will forget it. Some even want Hollywings instead of Halloween; children would dress up as saints and learn about each one, rather then parade around town as zombies. But in a globalized world and in a country whose focus is improving their English education it’s going to be impossible to keep out influences from other countries, the absorption of other traditions is inevitable.Halloween is a day to have fun, a holiday celebrated by all religions, why can’t it coexist?
*In schools, especially the English teachers in primary do a great job at bringing Halloween into the classroom.