Elves, queens and mythological beings on Tuesday paraded through the streets of El Salvador, in annual celebrations for the Central American country’s patron saint and namesake.
The Salvador del Mundo (Savior of the World) festivities honor Christian and local mythological traditions. This year saw thousands of people gather for a procession in the capital, San Salvador, accompanied by parade floats and bands.
“We have always attended with my family to see the parade, it is part of our culture that should not be missed,” Reina Carpio, 54, told reporters while attending the parade with her husband and three children.
Photo: AFP
The parade was led by people dressed as creatures from Salvadoran mythology, such as the siguanaba, a cursed female being, or the cadejo, a black, dog-like animal with large fangs.
Queens adorned in multicolored flowers threw sweets to those in the audience, while elves and other fantastic beings showed off for passersby.
Each year, parades, children’s events and sporting competitions are held as part of the festivities, typically under an increased police presence.
Photo: EPA-EFE
The celebrations this year are taking place under an anti-gang “state of emergency,” in place since March last year.
The director of Civil Protection, Luis Amaya, said that about 42,000 personnel — including police officers, firefighters and medical workers — were monitoring events this year.
The festivities are to conclude on Sunday with a mass officiated by all of the country’s bishops in San Salvador cathedral.
Airlines in Australia, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia and Singapore yesterday canceled flights to and from the Indonesian island of Bali, after a nearby volcano catapulted an ash tower into the sky. Australia’s Jetstar, Qantas and Virgin Australia all grounded flights after Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki on Flores island spewed a 9km tower a day earlier. Malaysia Airlines, AirAsia, India’s IndiGo and Singapore’s Scoot also listed flights as canceled. “Volcanic ash poses a significant threat to safe operations of the aircraft in the vicinity of volcanic clouds,” AirAsia said as it announced several cancelations. Multiple eruptions from the 1,703m twin-peaked volcano in
A plane bringing Israeli soccer supporters home from Amsterdam landed at Israel’s Ben Gurion airport on Friday after a night of violence that Israeli and Dutch officials condemned as “anti-Semitic.” Dutch police said 62 arrests were made in connection with the violence, which erupted after a UEFA Europa League soccer tie between Amsterdam club Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv. Israeli flag carrier El Al said it was sending six planes to the Netherlands to bring the fans home, after the first flight carrying evacuees landed on Friday afternoon, the Israeli Airports Authority said. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also ordered
Former US House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi said if US President Joe Biden had ended his re-election bid sooner, the Democratic Party could have held a competitive nominating process to choose his replacement. “Had the president gotten out sooner, there may have been other candidates in the race,” Pelosi said in an interview on Thursday published by the New York Times the next day. “The anticipation was that, if the president were to step aside, that there would be an open primary,” she said. Pelosi said she thought the Democratic candidate, US Vice President Kamala Harris, “would have done
Farmer Liu Bingyong used to make a tidy profit selling milk but is now leaking cash — hit by a dairy sector crisis that embodies several of China’s economic woes. Milk is not a traditional mainstay of Chinese diets, but the Chinese government has long pushed people to drink more, citing its health benefits. The country has expanded its dairy production capacity and imported vast numbers of cattle in recent years as Beijing pursues food self-sufficiency. However, chronically low consumption has left the market sloshing with unwanted milk — driving down prices and pushing farmers to the brink — while