Stealing flowerpots at Easter: the most curious tradition in Malaga's Axarquía
In Moclinejo children and young people go around the village to collect plants to build a biblical garden in the early hours of Easter Sunday
The village of Mocinejo in Malaga province's Axarquía area is home to a very curious Easter tradition: during Holy Week, groups of youngsters move silently through the streets with a very specific objective: to remove flowerpots from doors, patios and façades. It is not vandalism, but the first step of one of the most unique traditions in the province of Malaga.
Mainly teenagers, aged between 12 and 18, collect flowerpots from the street and from the entrance of many homes, which they then hide in old houses, discreet corners or secluded spaces. They keep them for days until the key moment arrives. "I've known it all my life, from my parents and grandparents," explains Pedro Blanco, Moclinejo's councillor for tourism, who admits that he's not sure when it started, but it is part of the local identity.
It all comes to an end on the night before Easter Sunday. Then, the whole village descends on the main square to build a children's garden, a popular recreation of the Garden of Gethsemane. The stolen flowerpots become the basis for a total transformation of the space, to which palm branches and other plants are added to create a scene that is as striking as it is ephemeral.
The events goes on until well into the early hours of the morning and even the children "are there all night long", says the councillor. Then at around 4 or 5am the image of Christ resurrected is taken from the church to a structure erected in the square, where it will remain until the next day's procession.
Once the processions are finished the flowerpots are returned to their owners on the same day. In many cases it is the young people themselves who are responsible for returning them and they even make the gesture of giving some coins to the children who take part. In this way, what begins as a collective joke ends up reinforcing the neighbourly and shared nature of a custom that is based, above all, on trust between those who keep it alive.
Municipal ordinance
In February, the Town Hall published a proclamation calling for moderation, after detecting that some flowerpots were being removed too early, "which caused nuisance among neighbours and the deterioration of many plants" before they were used.
The town hall insists that this practice should be maintained with respect. For this reason, it asks people not to remove flower pots too early and to respect private property and if necessary, to agree beforehand on the use of the pots intended for the garden. Despite these adjustments, the original spirit is maintained and the plants are returned to their owners on the same day.
Although the Easter Sunday garden is also celebrated in other municipalities, the peculiar "theft" of flowerpots is a hallmark of Moclinejo. A custom that mixes play, neighbourly collaboration and intangible heritage, and that every spring turns this small village in the Axarquia into a unique place.
