Guadix and Baza are two Andalusian towns in the Province of Granada, neighbors, sisters and rivals. Cascamorras, a worker from Guadix, found a buried sacred image of the Virgen de la Piedad (Our Lady of Mercy) while working on the land of Baza. Encouraged by his Guadixan countrymen, he attempted to carry the sacred image to Guadix, but Bazans snatched it before he arrived, punishing what they considered a sacred theft. When Cascamorras returned to Guadix empty-handed, his countrymen, who expected the image of the Virgin, were deeply disappointed and viciously pursued those they considered responsible for their frustration. Finally, hero and people reconciled, they prayed to the Virgin who was in the other town. Since then, recalling those events that unite and oppose them, Baza and Guadix celebrate the Fiesta de Cascamorras for three days in the late summer of each year.
It was agreed that if an Accitano, as the residents of Guadix were known, was able to enter Baza and reach the Merced without staining his clothes, he could recover the Virgin for Guadix. Despite the passage of time the tradition is still very much alive.
cascamorras-festivalNow, every year on the 6 September a villager from Guadix dresses as an oddball character called 'Cascamorras' and travels the 3km to Baza, accompanied by a team of representatives, to stage an attempt to recapture the statue. The people of Baza dirty their faces and wait with coloured water and eggs with which to pelt the intruders, thus staining the clothes of Cascamorras and ensuring his failure.
Throughout the onslaught, Cascamorras and his team are given the chance to clean off in the fountains and recommence. However he never succeeds in his mission. On reaching Baza he becomes guest of honour for the town's next two days of partying, not returning to Guadix until 9 September, whereby, having failed to recapture the statue, he receives a further barrage of good natured missiles from the Accitanos.
This fiesta, with its ever increasing popularity, is a superb excuse for everyone from both Baza and Guadix to get thoroughy filthy and party for 3 days.