The Fiesta de El Cascamorras is celebrated in Baza and Guadix every September and was declared a celebration of International Tourist Interest in 2013.
This celebration symbolically re-enacts the 15th century dispute between Baza and Guadix regarding the ownership of the statue of the Virgen de la Piedad. There are several versions of it, but the most popular goes that a local from Guadix, Juan Pedernal, accidentally discovered an image of the Virgin in an old church when he was working in Baza.
This led to a conflict between the two towns. Finally the statue was given to Guadix on the condition that it should be lent to Baza for one day a year for the people there to venerate it.
Since then, a local of Guadix, known as the Cascamorras, takes the statue to Baza on the 6th of September. He will only succeed in getting it back to his town if he and the statue remain clean and untainted. Needless to say, his attempt is unsuccessful, as millions of people wait on the outskirts of Baza throwing ink at the Cascamorras and the statue, and accompany them to the church to make sure that it gets there.
During the following two days, the Cascamorras character participates in festivals and religious celebrations. Then on the 9th September the Cascamorras returns to Guadix without fulfilling its intention and its once again stained in ink from top to toe by locals.
