Bizarre tradition: children smoke cigarettes for Epiphany

Photo source: Armando Franca 

It is a strange sight: small children who massively light a cigarette. Yet that is what happens in the Portuguese village of Vale de Salgueiro at the conclusion of the Epiphany. The tradition has existed for centuries and is apparently permitted by the authorities. Nobody knows why the children smoke at the end of the party or where the ritual comes from. The children are sometimes barely five years old, while smoking in Portugal is prohibited under the age of eighteen. 

Photo source: Armando Franca 

However, we should not take it too heavily. "It's not all that bad," says Guilhermina Mateus (35), owner of a coffee bar. She too lets her daughter smoke a cigarette. "The children barely inhale the cigarette smoke. They do not really smoke, "it sounds. Folklore Jose Ribeirinha explains that the tradition could continue to exist, because the village is so remote. Vale de Salgueiro is located 450 kilometers from Lisbon in the Tras os Montes region, which is also called the most forgotten region of Portugal. 

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