Yes, it’s a sad truth… a village in Portugal celebrates Epiphany with children as young as 5 years old smoking cigarettes.
This smoking children tradition still continue as to this day during Epiphany celebrations in village of Vale de Salgueiro.
The Portuguese village still allows this practice each year, causing a public outcry among the outsiders.
Locals say the practice is centuries-old, but nobody is sure what it symbolizes or why their parents buy the packs of cigarettes for their children and, even encourage them to take part.
The legal age to purchase tobacco in Portugal is 18, but nothing prohibits parents from giving children cigarettes, and Portuguese authorities do not intervene to stop the practice.
Guilhermina Mateus, a 35-year-old coffee shop owner, cites custom as the reason why she gives her daughter cigarettes.
Ms Mateus said: “I don’t see any harm in that because they don’t really smoke, they inhale and immediately exhale.”
