SANDRA O'CONNELLbrings you the niche stories of the week
Baby-jumping sounds like something from Father Ted. In fact it is a religious ceremony that takes place each year in the northern Spanish village of Castrillo de Murcia as part of the Corpus Christi celebrations. Rows of babies are lined up like double-decker buses in an Evel Knievel stunt, for men dressed as the devil to take running jumps over.
The festival, which is known as El Colacho, uses only babies that have been born in the previous 12 months. To be selected is something of an honour – although it’s a dubious one given the damage that could be done if one of the leaping Lucifers missed his step. On the plus side, the babies’ age presumably protects them from psychological damage.
The ceremony, which dates to the 1620s, is organised by a local religious group, the Brotherhood of the Holy Sacrament, and is supposed to cleanse the tots of evil. Once jumped, the babies are showered in rose petals by children who have made their first communion.
The village is in Castilla y León, and next year’s event takes place on June 3rd. As interest in the spectacle as a tourist attraction has grown, the numbers attending have risen. According to the organisers, no babies have ever been harmed in what must be one of the most the bizarre rituals in Catholicism. But there’s always a first time.