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= = El Coso

El Coso is a day of entertainment and partying. El Coso is an annual festival in Felantix, Spain that is celebrated on August 28th. The town hall organizes an entire week of fun and games for the people. School children and workers have the 28th off to attend sporting events, plays, and to end each day, the people sing and dance in night festivals called Verbenas. The festival of El Coso dates back to the 80’s of last century. Although many people believe El Coso was originally set up to only celebrate bullfighting, it was in fact mostly organized as a rebellion day to criticize politicians. But times have changed, and people refuse to celebrate bullfighting because it is thought of as cruel and harmful to the bulls. People in Felantix also rarely criticize the politicians and think of El Coso as a day off to party. El Coso is important to Spain because it represents their culture. Bullfighting originated in Spain, and it is vital that that is not forgotten. The Spanish are proud of this day, and although it is now thought as a “party day” it keeps the Spanish ancestor’s traditions alive. A comparable festival in America is Mardi Gras. It is celebrated in New Orleans, Louisiana. The entire state shuts down to spend a day dressing up in sparkles and beads. Music, parades, and floats are among some of the festivities celebrated in New Orleans. Mardi Gras is something many people look forward to, and many tourists travel down south to enjoy celebrating with friends. French-Canadian explorer, Jean Baptiste Le Moyne Sieur de Bienville, landed on a plot of ground 60 miles directly south of New Orleans in 1699 and called it "Pointe due Mardi Gras." This is how Mardi Gras formed its name, and it has been that way ever since. The traditional yellow, purple, and green colors are still showed off today by many people. The masks and joker of Mardi Gras originally were important symbols, but are now worn just for fun. Mardi Gras and El Coso are comparable holidays because of their original purpose, and how over time they are just known as days to have fun. There are still some original traditions that have been carried on over the years with each of these festivals.

La Endiablada

La Endiablada, also known as The Disguised Devil, is annually celebrated on the 2nd and 3rd of February. This festival is celebrated in many parts of Spain, but is especially important to the inhabitants of Cuenca and Castilla La Mancha. La Endiablada is a festivity that has been held since the 13th century and is meant to ward off the devil and his evil spirits.

The men of the town dress as devils and demands and parade through the town. Young boys wear jackets, pants, and hats with bright colors and cowbells tied around their wastes. The boys sing and dance through the churches and streets making as much noise as they can with their bells. The women of the town can only observe this day, and cannot take any part in dressing up with the men. La Endiablada is known as one of the strangest festivals in Spain, and is looked forward to every year by the local people. La Endiablada is a tradition in the Spanish culture. The people are extremely spiritual and believe that they will be cursed if they do not ward away the devil with this celebration. It is important to the Spaniards that their children follow this tradition as they have followed it from their ancestors since the 13th century. A holiday that is similar to La Endiablada in America is Halloween. It is a day to dress in evil costumes and party. Halloween was once a serious holiday as La Endiablada was, but today is thought of as a day to have fun. The history of Halloween is believed to have started in the early 19th century. The festival would frequently involve bonfires in fields. It is believed that the fires attracted small insects to the area, which then would lure bats. These are additional characteristics of the history of Halloween. Ancient Europeans believed that on October 31st, the boundaries between the living and the dead crossed and the deceased would come back to life to cause chaos such as sickness or damage people’s crops. Masks and consumes were worn in an attempt to mimic the evil spirits or attempt to get rid of them. 

[|Boys and men dancing in the streets. (La Endiablada)]