One and a half kilometers southeast of the town of Yoro, a swampy field called El Llano del Pántano is the site of a most unusual annual rainstorm, according to local legend. During the height of the rainy season, usually sometime in mid-June, a fierce storm will hit in the middle of the night, and in the morning, residents find the fields full of flopping fish! The annual event has become known as the Lluvia de Peces, or Rain of Fish.

More skeptical minds have theorized that the fish come upriver from a tributary of the Río Aguán and use the inundation of heavy rain to reach the marsh, where they are accustomed to laying their eggs. Reportedly, some Japanese scientists traveled to Yoro not long ago to solve the mystery — and came away mystified.

The devout attribute the phenomenon to the Spanish Catholic missionary Father José Manuel Subirana, who lived in Honduras from 1856 to 1864. Seeing the poverty in which the people of Yoro lived, he prayed for three days and three nights asking God for a miracle to help the poor people by providing food. The Rain of Fish is said to have occurred ever since.

One of Yoro’s best annual parties is held to coincide with the special night every June, with villagers from all around coming down to dance on the town square at night.