Today, a national holiday is celebrated here in Spain, Día de Todos Los Santos (Tots Sants in Catalan, All Saints’ Day), a solemnity in the liturgical calendar of the Catholic Church. In the English-speaking world, the holiday is officially called the Solemnity of All Saints and is also called All Hallows or Hallowmas.

Customs change in the course of time, however. In the past, November 1st was celebrated throughout the Catholic world, including Mallorca and all of Spain, to honour all saints of the Catholic Church. The santos play a very important role in Spanish daily life, customarily giving every Spanish person their very own, personal name. The next day, November 2nd, was celebrated as Día de Muertos, the day when the dead family members were commemorated. Nowadays, both celebrations are united and are now celebrated on the same day. On All Saints’ Day, it is the custom in Spain and Portugal to celebrate three church services.

The photo was chosen from my archive. It was taken in Sant Joan, Mallorca, Baleares, Spain. The date: April 9th, 2011. The time was 14:43:40.