Mexico's Candelaria Day tradition, celebrated on February 2 with tamales, will see higher costs this year. An analysis shows preparing tamales will be 18% more expensive due to rises in key ingredients like meats and sauces. The holiday blends prehispanic roots and Christian elements in a deep-rooted custom.
Candelaria Day is celebrated every February 2 in Mexico, where families gather to eat tamales, fulfilling the promise for those who drew the doll in the Kings' Rosca on January 6. This tradition has prehispanic origins fused with Christian beliefs after the Conquest. According to Anáhuac University professor Alberto Peralta de Legarreta, the circular rosca symbolizes the Advent crown or a full annual cycle, with the number 12 representing months, zodiac constellations, apostles, and Jesus' appearances. Epiphany, meaning 'the child sun manifests,' was applied to Jesus, and February 2 marks Jesus' presentation in the temple, the end of Mary's quarantine, celebrated with candles representing ardent and loving light. In Mesoamerica, the sun was reborn on December 25, and 13 days later, on February 2, the Mexica year began with tamales cooked in 'pregnant' pots, linking the rosca as a promise and the tamal as fulfillment in the mestizo tradition. For 2026, the Grupo Consultor de Mercados Agrícolas (GCMA) reports that the cost to prepare 30 mole tamales in corn husks rose from 268 pesos in January 2025 to 315 pesos, a 17.5% increase or 47 pesos, with the per-piece price going from 8.93 to 10.50 pesos. Oaxacan green tamales in banana leaves increased from 285 to 338.50 pesos, an 18.8% or 53.50 pesos more, to 11.28 pesos per unit. The biggest rises came from sauces and vegetables (21.3% in mole), chicken breast (from 90 to 104 pesos), corn masa (plus 10 pesos), and wrapping leaves (33.3% in corn). In Oaxacan style, pork pulp rose 20% (from 110 to 132 pesos) and sauces 27.9%. These hikes reflect pressures on key inputs, impacting the traditional 'tamalada'.
