Thankfully, baby jumping doesn’t involve monster trucks, or people mugging babies in dark alleys. It’s actually part of the Catholic observation of the holiday of Corpus Christi in Castrillo de Murcia, Spain. The festivities start in late May or early June and last for five days. It’s a healthy mix of Spanish folklore and religion designed to cleanse evil from the town.
It starts with a group of local men who are designated the Brotherhood of Santisimo Sacramento de Minerva. These men usually volunteer because they feel that their lives have been cursed and they want to free themselves of bad influences. This “brotherhood” represents all the evil of the year. They are then split into two groups. The El Salto del Colacho (the devils) dress in red and yellow costumes and the El Atablero dress in black suits with large sombreros and carry large drums.
They start out the festivities, always on a Wednesday, by terrorizing the towns people with pranks, often involving whips and batons. These shenanigans last until Sunday. As the holy part of the festival begins, the townspeople decorated their homes with flowers and create small alters offering Eucharist (communion) to those who arrive to view the procession.
On Sunday, a procession of local children and clergy winds its way around town. Then, to bring the yearly cleansing of the town to a close, babies from newborn to 12 months old are brought into the street and laid out on two rows of full sized mattresses. The men chosen to represent “devils” then run down the street form the church and jump over the babies. The children are then considered to be cleansed and blessed, and Castrillo de Murcia ready for a fresh start in a new year.
