La Quema del Diablo
La Quema del Diablo, annual festival celebrated throughout Guatemala on December 7, on the eve of the Feast of the Immaculate Conception (December 8), a Roman Catholic holy day honoring the Virgin Mary. Marking the beginning of the Christmas season, the celebration centers on burning an effigy of the Devil to represent the triumph of good over evil. In the 21st century, La Quema del Diablo has drawn criticism from environmental advocates, who argue that the widespread burning of household waste as part of the celebration contributes to air pollution and environmental degradation.
The festival originated in the colonial period, which began in the 16th century in Guatemala with the arrival of Spanish conquistadors. They established their capital in the city now known as Antigua Guatemala, which became home to several convents and a large Dominican monastery. Owing in part to the influence of the Dominican order—closely associated with the promotion of the rosary—Guatemala developed a strong devotion to Our Lady of the Rosary, a title bestowed on the Virgin Mary. In 1821 the Virgin of the Rosary was proclaimed the patroness of Guatemala’s independence movement, and she was formally declared “Queen of Guatemala” (i.e., its patron saint) in 1833.
In the 19th century the month of October came to be dedicated to celebration of the rosary in the Roman Catholic Church, and October 7 was declared the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary by Pope Pius X. In Guatemala it became a tradition to celebrate the feast day by lighting firecrackers, bonfires, and lanterns outside homes and burning a figure representing the Devil to mark the Virgin’s vanquishing of evil. Eventually, this tradition was moved to December for the Feast of the Immaculate Conception.
The modern celebrations on December 7 involve parades in which people carry piñatas in the shape of the Devil through their towns. Then at 6:00 pm the piñatas are burned. Firecrackers are also often part of the festivities, and many children wear devil horns on their heads.
A central part of the celebration involves burning household rubbish, a symbolic act intended to cleanse homes of evil spirits in preparation for the Christmas season. Although this practice was largely noncontroversial in the past when most waste materials were organic—such as paper, straw, wood, and cardboard—it has become more contentious in recent decades. The growing presence of synthetic materials, such as plastics, synthetic rubber, and discarded tires and mattresses, has raised serious environmental and public health concerns because they release toxic pollutants when burned. Some environmental organizations have sought to discourage the burning of such materials, though such efforts have had limited success. Estimates suggest that as many as 500,000 bonfires may be lit across Guatemala during La Quema del Diablo each year, underscoring both the festival’s cultural significance and its environmental impact.
In 2008 Guatemala’s Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources released a statement asking people to curtail their burning of rubbish during the festival. However, this request was largely ignored.