Halloween in Madrid
I think it was about a month ago that I saw a sign in the metro in Spanish that said, "What are you doing for Halloween?" I was like, do they celebrate that in Europe?! Well, in Spain, the answer is YES! The holiday has definitely caught on in the past several years. Apparently, in France, the answer is now NO.
The more important and traditional holiday in Spain is All Saints Day on November 1. This is the day to honor your deceased friends and relatives, much like Memorial Day in the U.S. Most Spaniards have this day off, so if they want to go out for Halloween, at least they have the option to rest up the next day.
I'm going to spare you the pictures of my costume attempts, but let's just say that one of them involved red leather bondage gear, a Scarlett O'Hara skirt and a red wig - just for the record, I really liked this one, but it had some "logistical problems." This directly followed the attempt at pulling something together with real machetes and gold lamé lycra body suits. While these were interesting ideas, we couldn't find anything that had group cohesion, so we ended up being among the costume-less masses - LAME, I know.
My first inkling that it was not just another night came when the macabre go-go boy crew came into the restaurant where we were eating dinner to promote their 3 a.m. show.
Nothing like a little horror and go-go to go with your meal. (Or is that whore to go-go?) So we wandered the streets of Chueca and Malasaña for a while in search of fun people. My students told me that only the adults celebrate Halloween here, but early on, I saw several kids and teens dressed up pretty nicely.
I have grown tired of the endless silver and gold people that have proliferated in San Francisco in recent years, but this guy near Plaza del Sol actually really looked like a statue. When he moved, he had some sort of sound system that sounded like he was shooting his gun. The kids loved it - or ran screaming in fear - but at least he got a reaction!
The costumes ranged from the mildly scary...
...to the mildy gory...
...to the over-the-top cross-dressed...
...to just well-done...
I was just leaving as the throngs of people were streaming into the area around 1 a.m. I just could not bear the thought of another night waiting for the metro to start again. My friend suggested I come back at 9 a.m. when everyone would be congregating in the squares to show off their costumes after their night of fun. I didn't make it, but I saw enough blood and fluff for one night :)
I think it was about a month ago that I saw a sign in the metro in Spanish that said, "What are you doing for Halloween?" I was like, do they celebrate that in Europe?! Well, in Spain, the answer is YES! The holiday has definitely caught on in the past several years. Apparently, in France, the answer is now NO.
The more important and traditional holiday in Spain is All Saints Day on November 1. This is the day to honor your deceased friends and relatives, much like Memorial Day in the U.S. Most Spaniards have this day off, so if they want to go out for Halloween, at least they have the option to rest up the next day.
I'm going to spare you the pictures of my costume attempts, but let's just say that one of them involved red leather bondage gear, a Scarlett O'Hara skirt and a red wig - just for the record, I really liked this one, but it had some "logistical problems." This directly followed the attempt at pulling something together with real machetes and gold lamé lycra body suits. While these were interesting ideas, we couldn't find anything that had group cohesion, so we ended up being among the costume-less masses - LAME, I know.
My first inkling that it was not just another night came when the macabre go-go boy crew came into the restaurant where we were eating dinner to promote their 3 a.m. show.
Nothing like a little horror and go-go to go with your meal. (Or is that whore to go-go?) So we wandered the streets of Chueca and Malasaña for a while in search of fun people. My students told me that only the adults celebrate Halloween here, but early on, I saw several kids and teens dressed up pretty nicely.
I have grown tired of the endless silver and gold people that have proliferated in San Francisco in recent years, but this guy near Plaza del Sol actually really looked like a statue. When he moved, he had some sort of sound system that sounded like he was shooting his gun. The kids loved it - or ran screaming in fear - but at least he got a reaction!
The costumes ranged from the mildly scary...
...to the mildy gory...
...to the over-the-top cross-dressed...
...to just well-done...
I was just leaving as the throngs of people were streaming into the area around 1 a.m. I just could not bear the thought of another night waiting for the metro to start again. My friend suggested I come back at 9 a.m. when everyone would be congregating in the squares to show off their costumes after their night of fun. I didn't make it, but I saw enough blood and fluff for one night :)
posted by Chromest*r at 12:23 AM
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