The blood trade behind eclipse rituals in Madrid

Ritual sacrifices during the eclipse: the spiritual economy emerges in Madrid

How much money does popular religiosity make on a significant day? The eclipse that crossed Spain left behind more than images of the sky; it left a trail of antiestéticathers, candles and Bizum payment receipts. In the Madrid region, groups linked to Santería and other liturgies of Caribbean and Latin American origin took advantage of the phenomenon to hold "acts of thanksgiving" and "communal spiritual cleansings" involving the sacrifice of birds.

The two camps split the day. One holds that during the eclipse "all energies are in motion" and recommends performing no rites: they bring their ceremonies forward or postpone them. The other, by contrast, turns it into their big date: the shaman or santero takes into his mouth the blood of the slaughtered animal mixed with aguardiente and spits it over those present to purify them. First-hand accounts describe scenes with fainting spells and warnings that no one was to leave until it was over.

A booming market between Instagram and TikTok

The most striking thing is not the liturgy but its distribution channel. On Instagram and TikTok, consecrations, drum ceremonies, güiros and "offerings to the earth" are advertised in towns such as Chinchón or Hoyo del Manzanares. There are also "love binding spells and divination for businesses and ventures" services, paid for via Bizum (a Spanish instant mobile payment system). The supply coexists with a flagged risk: animal carcasses abandoned in the countryside that can contaminate fields and rivers, and candles left burning all night with the danger of fire.

Political explosion two days before the eclipse

The rituals story lasted only briefly as a religious phenomenon; it soon became political ammunition. The exchange of messages antiestéticatures comparisons with the Quirón case —"Sánchez's government pays Quirón Prevención 15 times more"—, ministers' penthouses, the grandson citizenship law with 2.5 million applicants, and immigration powers. You would think animal sacrifice was the least of it.

The uncomfortable question is another one: how much business does blood spirituality move in Madrid? Between Bizum payments, social media advertising and rituals in towns of the sierra, the niche exists, it is growing and, for now, there is no clear response from the authorities. Meanwhile, the sun shines again. The hens, not so much.