Hurling flour and eggs, dozens of revellers known as “Els Enfarinats” (those covered in flour) took over the small Spanish town of Ibi on Wednesday as part of a 200-year-old festival marking Holy Innocents Day, which is celebrated every December 28.
Holy Innocents Day is a traditional day in Spain for pulling pranks, akin to April Fools Day.
Dressed in assorted military garb and wearing sashes, participants staged a mock, messy coup in the town of about 23,000 people in the eastern region of Valencia, using about 10,000 eggs and 600kg (1,323lbs) of flour in the fighting that ensued.
Under a cloud of flour and exploding fireworks, Els Enfarinats battled “L’Oposicio” (the opposition) as they pretended to take over Ibi’s local government and established outlandish laws, such as fines for walking on the pavement.
Any proceeds from the fines would go to charity.