For the second year in a row, the Instituto Cultural de Mexico will organize a Day of the Dead parade in downtown Madrid. This time, the tour will be from the Plaza de las Cortés to the Plaza Mayor. The meeting point will be the Plaza de las Cortés next Friday, November 1 at 17 hours. The parade is open to all the public interested in Mexican culture and the tradition of the Day of the Dead.
The Day of the Dead Parade will be led by the Mariachi Alma del Son, the folk ballet Legends of Mexico and a catrina dressed with the design made by fashion students from the Creative Campus of the European University of Madrid. The Parade also has the collaboration of the Congress and Visitors Bureau of the Government of the state of Aguascalientes.
Also, until next November 10 the Instituto Cultural de Mexico shows an Altar of the Dead at its headquarters (Carrera de San Jerónimo, 46) from Monday to Friday from 10 to 14 and 16 to 20 hours.
The worship of the dead, particularly as a pagan-religious ceremony, takes place during the night from 1 November to the dawn of 2 November. The rites are carried out according to the customs of each region mainly in the basin of Lake Pátzcuaro. Covering approximately 21 populations. Women and children from the lake region head to their ancestors’ graves in a silence that contrasts with candlelight, while they place their deceased’s favorite foods and their bags.
For this date they are careful to make the best handmade products, black and glazed earthenware, cempasúchil flower garlands, angels of straw and carved wood, also placed flower arches, copal, pray, talk, sometimes it is danced but above all it is remembered to those who are no longer, the communities beautify the tombs, streets, temples and places where the rituals are performed, in a deeply rooted and especially alive custom, as part of a strong cultural idiosyncrasy of the Michoacan communities.
The offerings of Día de Muertos are altars of pre-Hispanic origin. These were dedicated to different deities and placed on different dates. The Lord of the Dead, Mictlantecuhtli, was celebrated in November. This coincidence was used by the evangelizers during La Colonia to make a syncretism between Christianity and indigenous religious beliefs.
Guided tours will be held on these dates and times:
Thursday 31 October: 5.00, 5.30, 6.00 and 6.30 p.m.; Friday 1 November: 11.00, 11.30, 12.00 and 12.30 a.m.; Tuesday 5 November: 5.00, 5.30, 6.00 and 18.30 a.m.; Thursday 7 November: 5.00, 5.00, 5.00, 5.00, 5.00, 5.00, 5.00, 5.00, 5.00, 5.00, 5.00, 5.00, 5.00, 6.00, 6.00, 6.00 and 6.30 p.m. 11.00, 11.30, 12.00 and 12.30 hours. Registration for guided tours will be requested at culturaesp@sre.gob.mx.
