'The Floured' take over Spanish town

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IBI, Spain, Dec. 31 (UPI) -- A group of characters known as "els enfarinats," or "the floured," seized control of a Spanish town as part of a more than 200-year-old tradition.

The characters, dressed in gaudy costumes and faces covered in flour, visited stores in Ibi Friday to collect their "taxes," which were donated to charity, Efe reported Monday.

The "New Order" government employed more than 6,000 pounds of flour to quell any who disobeyed their orders and faced off against their opposition, "els tapats," in a "battle" using flour and eggs as weapons in the center of the town.

Ramon Bernabeu, the "sheriff of flouring," said the event -- a tradition stretching back more than 200 years -- raised funds this year for the San Joaquin Nursing Home in Ibi.

The festivities concluded Friday night with a costumed "Dance of Victory" to celebrate the charitable funds raised by the whimsical insurgency.