How do you say 'April Fools' Day' in Spanish?

Answer 1

There are two literal interpretations of the phrase "April Fools' Day": "Día de tontos de abril" and "El dia de los tontos en abril."

Although many Latinos have taken up the April Fools' event, for many people in Latin America April 1 is nothing more than the first day of the month: The traditional day of practical jokes is actually "El día de los Santos Inocentes," on December 28.

This day originated as a religious holiday based on the Biblical slaughter of the innocents, and is still on the Catholic calendar of holy days. However, during the Middle Ages, it morphed into a day of festivals and practical jokes, a tradition that passed along to Latin America.

The origin of El día de los Santos Inocentes:

It developed over time, mostly in Spain. It was based on the account in the Gospel of Matthew of the slaughter of the innocents ordered by King Herod at the time of the birth of Christ.

Herod ordered all the male children in Jerusalem younger than 2 years of age to be killed, so that a new "king" could not arise to compete with him. The "joke" on Herod was that Jesus had already been taken away to Egypt by Mary and Joseph.

This "gallows humor" was what gave rise to the tradition of playing pranks on one another. When one is pranked on this day, the prankster will say "Inocente, inocente," in the same way that we would say "April Fool's, April Fool's."

Answer 2

There is the term "día de los inocentes"; but please note that there are cultural differences: the "fool's day" is not celebrated on April the 1st. in all countries.