Fiesta de Mozos

Description

On the second-to-last Sunday of September, Rus celebrates the Fiesta de los Mozos, which has its origins in an outbreak of bubonic plague that devastated the town, killing most of its young people. Tradition holds that, to fight the epidemic, residents carried the Blessed Sacrament in procession, and that as a result, the sick began to recover. To commemorate this miracle, the Blessed Sacrament is carried in procession every year as if it were Corpus Christi Day, while at the same time a carnival is held — a truly unusual occurrence at this time of year — recalling the masks under which the young men used to hide their faces so that death would not recognise them, allowing them to outwit it.

The Fiesta de Mozos of Rus is the town's most popular and historic tradition. So much so that, since 30 November 2018, it has been recognised as a Festival of Tourist Interest in Andalusia by the region's Ministry of Tourism and Sport.

The Fiesta de Mozos of Rus is unique in the world, since alongside a second procession of the Blessed Sacrament, held with the same solemnity as the traditional Corpus Christi, the townspeople dress in all kinds of masks expressing wit, mockery or criticism on the part of those wearing them.

For three days, everyone who wishes to take part dresses in traditional masks and costumes, intended to pay tribute to the moment when the town endured the cruelty of these epidemics. However, it is also very common to let the imagination run free and cover the face with more modern costumes, sometimes, as mentioned, carrying a message of irony, protest or mockery.