Loquat Day in Chile

Día del Níspero. Could it be that this expression is only used in Chile? "Loquat Day", a colloquial phrase used to say that something is never going to happen or that it is far from happening, has a day of celebration. August 23rd was established in Spain as the date to commemorate this fruit, thus giving birth to the real "Día del Níspero" (Loquat Day).

The chicle or chicozapote is a tree of the sapotaceae family (formerly called Sapota zapotilla, chicozapote or Achras zapota) native to Central America and tropical South America. It is also known colloquially as acana or loquat. It was introduced in the Philippines during the Spanish colonization. Since then, it spread throughout Asia and grows in large quantities in India, Thailand, Malaysia, Cambodia, Indonesia or Bangladesh, places where the fruit is very popular and is known as chikoo. The word zapote is of Nahuatl origin: tzapotl, name given to the fruits of spherical shape and large seeds. The word chicle is also of Nahuatl origin chictli/tzictli. In Mayan it is sicte, sacred tree of the chicozapote. Because of its sweet and aromatic flavor, many Amerindian peoples used gum for chewing, known as chicle (from the Nahuatl tzictli), which is a gummy polymer obtained from the sap of the tree. In other parts of Latin America and Spain it is synonymous with chewing gum, although most of today's chewing gums use a neutral plastic base, polyvinyl acetate. Until relatively recently, chewing gum still used this sap as a material. A chewing gum substitute can also be obtained from cowhide.