Reportage - Cascamorras Festival Baza 2011 (20 images)

The Spanish town of Baza hosts the Festival of Cascamorras where revelers, with their bodies and faces smeared with black grease, simulate a historic clash between Baza and Guadix for the ownership of the statue of Our Lady of Mercy. Spain. 6th September, 2011.

According to legend, the origin of "La Fiesta del Cascamorras" can be traced back to 1490, when Don Luis de Acuna Herrera decided to built the Church of Mercy in the town of Baza, where a Mozarabic mosque had...
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The Spanish town of Baza hosts the Festival of Cascamorras where revelers, with their bodies and faces smeared with black grease, simulate a historic clash between Baza and Guadix for the ownership of the statue of Our Lady of Mercy. Spain. 6th September, 2011.

According to legend, the origin of "La Fiesta del Cascamorras" can be traced back to 1490, when Don Luis de Acuna Herrera decided to built the Church of Mercy in the town of Baza, where a Mozarabic mosque had previously been erected. While chiseling a block of plaster, Juan Pedernal, a worker from the nearby town of Guadix, heard a soft, soothing voice coming from inside a cavern, which said "Have mercy!". Upon examining the cavity he stumbled upon a statue of the Virgin Mary, that came to be known as "Our Lady of Mercy".

You would think finding a miraculous statue was a joyful event for everyone, but in reality, its discovery caused turmoil between the towns of Baza and Guadix. After the two towns argued about the ownership of Our Lady of Mercy, courts of the time decided the statue would remain in Baza. It was also agreed that if ever a commissioner from Guadix would enter the town of Baza and reach the Church of Mercy without getting stained by locals, he would be allowed to take the holy statue to his home town.

And that takes us to the modern Festival of Cascamorras. The first Cascamorras was builder Juan Pedernal, and every year since his first attempt to recover the statue he discovered, his place has been taken by other locals from Guadix. Every time, their chosen Cascamorras tries to reach Baza church unstained, but as all the young people of Baza await him covered in black paint, it's no wonder in five centuries time no Cascamorras has ever reached his goal.
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