28th of December: Día de los Santos Inocentes

With these few lines I would like to thank those of you who have followed this blog during the last month. Indeed, you are reading my last entry, as I have decided to give up my activity as a blogger due to the stress which this writing activity implies...

For those of you who are feeling sorry and will miss my boring lines (as a matter of fact, I guess there are very few), do not worry: you have just fallen victim to a joke which have been inspired to me by the Spanish tradition of the Inocentadas, celebrated on the 28th of December. And if you were starting to feel relieved and glad to avoid reading all this stuff... keep ignoring it!

Maybe it is better to explain at last what an Inocentada is and why I began this entry in such a strange way, which is a sort of Spanish version of the Fool's Day, which in some European countries, like Britain and Italy, recurs on the 1st of April. As you probably know, on the 28th of December the Christian Church celebrates the Feast of the Holy Innocents, that is the commemoration of the martyrdom of the innocent children killed on behalf of Herod the Great, king of the Jews. This episode, narrated in the gospel of Matthew, originated a series of traditions of very different nature.

In the Middle Ages, indeed, it was believed to be an unlucky day, when no project or work should be undertaken. Perhaps due to this popular custom, a new tradition gradually gained a foothold, according to which the 28th of December was a day for pranks and innocent jokes to be played to family and friends. The Christian tradition, together with pagan elements, therefore, gave birth to a new and strange celebration known as Fiesta de los Locos: a day for innocent tricks, like sticking a figure of paper on somebody's back or switching the salt and the sugar. Another common joke consisted in borrowing something from a friend without finally giving it back and mocking the owner with the refrain Inocente palomita que te dejaste engañar ("Innocent young dove, you have fallen into the trick").

Nowadays, indeed, it is still common to do such things in Spain, Hispanic America and Philippines. Moreover, the development of technology and mass media entailed a more modern version of the ritual, when newspapers started publishing fake news, comic cartoons, parodic articles. Last year, for example, one of the most successful jokes was played by the football player Gerard Piqué, who announced with considerable advance his son's birth. Another football player, Thibaut Courtois, fell victim instead of a joke played by one of his team mates. This year it was the turn of the Italian player Luca Toni, who has been said to have signed a contract with Barcelona football team. What a fright for the fans of Verona F. C., his real team (and maybe also for the blaugrana ones)!

As for this year, I have had a look at the press review, detecting some interesting cases of possible inocentadas, the most interesting of which is this piece of news, published on the RTVE (RadioTelevisiòn Española) website, reporting of an opening by the Chinese government about social issues. This time, it would be probably better that, rather than an inocentada, it were a real one!

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