What’s the difference between April Fools’ Day and El Día de los Santos Inocentes?

In many parts of the world, pranksters’ favourite day of the year is here: today, Monday 1 April 2024, is April Fools’ Day. The United States is among the countries that celebrate it, along with others such as the United Kingdom, France and Germany.

In many Spanish-speaking nations, however, the time for lighthearted stitch-ups is El Día de los Santos Inocentes (The Day of the Holy Innocents). It’s a tradition observed in countries such as Argentina, Colombia, El Salvador, Mexico, Spain and Venezuela, where pranks played on the day are known as inocentadas.

El Día de los Santos Inocentes shares the spirit of April Fools’ Day, but is held much later in the year - it falls on 28 December - and has different origins.

How did April Fools’ Day come about?

Historians are not completely clear on the origin of April Fools’ Day, but the most popular theory is that the tradition came about as a consequence of the transition from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar. Led by Pope Gregory XIII, the change to the Gregorian system - which is now used by most countries in the world - was first adopted by Catholic countries in the late 16th century.

Under the Julian calendar, New Year’s celebrations had taken place between 25 March and 1 April; however, the introduction of the Gregorian calendar meant they now culminated on 1 January, initially leading to widespread confusion.

To make fun of those who struggled to adapt to the new calendar right away, the term “April fools” began to be used. What’s more, people would trick others into preparing for fictitious New Year’s celebrations. These pranks then evolved over time, to bring about what we now know as April Fools’ Day.

What’s the origin of El Día de los Santos Inocentes?

Since the sixth century, the Catholic Church has observed the Feast of the Holy Innocents on 28 December.

The celebration stems from the Massacre of the Innocents, a Nativity narrative in the Gospel of Matthew, which recounts Judean King Herod’s order that all male children aged two and under in Bethlehem be killed. Herod did so after learning that the infant Jesus had been proclaimed the ‘King of the Jews’.

According to Barcelona city council, the link between the Massacre of the Innocents and the tradition of playing pranks comes down to “the trickery that parents had to resort to in order to protect their children and keep them out of the clutches of Herod’s men”.