The Panteon de Belen (Bethlehem Cemetary) in the centre of Guadalajara is not as old as it looks, built in 1848 or thereabouts. It still has many ghost stories though… This shot was taken on or around the Day of the Dead last year.

On Wednesday I had a fine old day wandering around the city’s graveyards and markets enjoying the colourful celebration that is the Day of the Dead. If anything I was doing the tour a bit early as things really kick off in the evening and the following day. On the plus side I got to take lots of photos without being too much in the way.

First off I went to the Panteon de Mezquitan which is a huge, fairly posh graveyard. The usual silence of the place was interrupted by the officials reminding everyone through a huge speaker system to pay for another year’s “storage” for their deceased and to be watch out for “criptas fragiles”. Another reason to visit during the day is you’re less likely to fall into fragile crypts and open graves, which would put a damper on anyone’s evening… Everyone had bought their flowers in the market opposite. They’re called Cempazuchil (there are many alternate spellings, zempoalxochitl, zempazúchil or “Twenty-Flower”) which are African Marigolds and are the official Day of the Dead flower, representing the Sun, the source of all life put on the graves to attract the dead to the offerings. And if you’re planning on buying them, you’re best off avoiding these 2 or three days of hyperinflation.

In the same market you can also stock up on your “Pan de Muertos” Bread of the Dead, a slightly sweet, brioche-like affair with skull and bone shapes moulded onto it.

After there I went to the centre, to the Panteon de Belen where they have an Altar competition and it’s one of the oldest graveyards in Gwod. 25 pesos to enter with a photography permit…

There were about 20 different altares here honouring such luminaries as Pedro Infante, el Santo, Pope John Paul II, Che Guevara, Elvis and Maria Felix. Each one has all kinds of symbolism going on. They gave me a photocopy of the meaning of everything but somehow I lost it and all I remember is that the crosses made of salt are for purification. There are treats such as tequila, bread, chicharron, and their favourite brand of fags left too. A friend of mine said that she’d left a bottle of coke, bread and Marlboro lights on her uncle’s tomb. The next day the bread turned to powder, the cigarettes wouldn’t light and the coke had gone flat. Proof positive that the deceased visit their tombs and chow down on the various things left there for them.

I could write a lot more about these customs but you know how it is, work to do, etc… I think it’s a great tradition all round, and something that needs to be kept up to combat the all encroaching gringofied version of hallowe’en. T’was a lovely day all round.

Click for: Dia de los Muertos photos, Dia de los Muertos Slideshow

More about the tradition and meanings of the Dia de los Muertos Altares here