¡Truco o trato!

Everyone here knows what Halloween is. But not everyone shares the same attitude toward it.

Commerce has really lead the introduction of Halloween into Spain. The only places you see orange and black Halloween decorations are stores, and the most decorated stores are the big-boxes, the multinationals, and the shopping centre chain stores. These types of stores sell American products, pop culture, and consumption habits, and so they choose to promote Halloween, which is like all three of these things rolled into one. But though you'll find a couple of racks of kids' Halloween costumes and pumpkin banners and black cat stickers, it's still nothing that's celebrated as widely as it is in North America.

A lot of people resist it. "It's not our holiday, it's an American holiday," they say. "They can celebrate their holidays, and we'll celebrate ours."

But some bilbaínos see Halloween as an excuse to party; for those that do celebrate Halloween it's for adults only. I've seen posters for several club nights and costume parties in bars, and lots of people have house parties.

But because Halloween is relatively new here, and because people have learned its ins and outs from American pop culture, it's celebrated in a straighforward and earnest way. The costume repertoire consists of your typical scary being-witch, ghost, vampire, monster, grim reaper. There aren't too many ironic or tongue-in-cheek costumes. I got many puzzled reactions at last night's party for dressing up as the Urduliz Bridge Champion of 1990. (My costume consisted of a hat and a bridge trophy found in the depths of a storage closet in my apartment.)