If you are fascinated by Spanish culture, you should not miss the Cascamorras Festival when you visit Spain. Of all the Spanish festivals, this Cascamorras event may be the “darkest.” The Cascamorras Festival takes place every September in the towns of Baza and Guadix, both located in the southern province of Granada. The origin of this festival is believed to date back to the 15th century. At that time, a worker named Juan Pedernal from Gaudix found a sacred image of the Virgen de la Piedad in an old church while he was working in Baza. On his way back to Guadix, the villagers of Baza took the religious image away from Juan Pedernal because they thought the image belonged to Baza. That was when the conflict between the two towns started. Finally, thanks to the intervention of the authorities, the image stayed in Baza on the condition that it could be taken back to Guadix for one day every September for people to venerate it. An additional agreement was that residents from Guadix had to enter the church in Baza without being covered in paint. Therefore, every year when residents from Guadix came to retrieve the image, people in Baza would throw ink at them to stop their mission. The Cascamorras Festival has become a cultural tourist attraction in Spain. Celebrated annually from September 6th to 9th, this festival is well-known for a black paint battle that contains two main runs—one in Baza and the other in Guadix. The “Cascamorras,” the symbolic figure in this battle, would come from Guadix to enter Baza. To stop the Cascamorras, thousands of people painted with black pigment will throw black grease. On the final day, the festival moves back to Guadix. Because the Cascamorras fail to take the religious image back, they will be thrown paint again. But this time, people use colorful paint rather than black grease.