The Light of the Souls is a festival which revives an ancestral ritual held in the small village of Trasmoz over All Saint Days. It is a tradition of Celtic origin, the Samhain.

Next festival 2020 October 31th 

During this ritual, the path to the cemetery is lit up with pumpkins for the procession, during which religious songs are sung.

How the Light of the Souls is celebrated

This festival is held on the Saturday before All Saints Day. Families from the surrounding villages go this day to Trasmoz to enjoy all the activities and workshops which take place throughout the day. Starting with the seeking of the pumpkins being decorated and later on being placed around the village. There is music and some parades.  At 7 pm the procession of the Souls leaves the church of the village to the cemetery. It is after the procession when the  “Frightening Roads of Trasmoz” begins. At this point the Light of the Souls offer both fear and fun to hundreds of visitors, many of them dressed up as witches, vampires and ghosts.

Trasmoz, located on the slopes of the Moncayo National Park, has always been plagued by rumors concerning witches and akelarres, and it is the only Spanish place excommunicated by the Catholic church.

My personal point of view

For those with children, The Light Of The Souls is a very enjoyable festival. There are pumpkins for everybody to carve, both children and adults. For those who haven´t done it before, it may be a nice experience, at least it was for me.

Regarding the Frightening Roads of Trasmoz, tickets are sold a few hours before the start. I was told it used to be very scary, but since a woman died from shock, it has become lighter.

It is remarkable that a village of less than 75 inhabitants has two museums, a Witchcraft Museum in the interior of the castle, and a House of the Terror in a private house (regrettably not always opened, just when the owners are living in the village).

Furthermore, Trasmoz is very close to the Cistercian Monastery of Veruela, of the 12th Century, where the Spanish poet Gustavo Adolfo Becker wrote legends about the castle and the village.