Inside Spain’s 'Baby Jumping' Festival, Where People Leap Over Babies to Bless Them

If they’re not crushed, they’re blessed for life!

In the town of Castrillo de Murcia, Spain, there’s a tradition: After a baby is born, you bring them to the town square, lay them down on a blanket and then have a man dressed as the devil jump over them.

I know. Europe.

This “El Colacho” celebration happens once a year as part of the town’s commemoration of the Catholic feast of Corpus Christi. No one really knows how it started, but it’s said that the act of being jumped over by the Devil will cleanse one of original sin (a claim, by the way, that really pissed off the Pope, who said that the only way to cleanse original sin is through baptism. Differing opinions, I guess).

Here’s what this strange festival looks like: