Feature: Bond film "Spectre" premieres in Mexico on Day of Dead

The latest James Bond feature "Spectre" is set to premiere on Monday, the Day of the Dead when Latin Americans pay tribute to the deceased

Mexico City is the second city in the the world to host the much-anticipated film's premiere, which made its world debut last Monday in Bond's spiritual home of London.

The movie, which stars Daniel Craig as 007 and Mexican actress Stephanie Sigman as one of the spy's love interests, has earned around 64 million U.S. dollars in its first week in Britain and is to be released in North American on Friday.

The day of the debut carries special significance as segments of the film take place amid the macabre skulls and skeletons that feature the celebrations here.

"In the story, the Day of the Dead was a great subject. The idea that the dead are alive is very important to the story," film producer Barbara Broccoli told reporters at a press event Sunday, local media reported.

Countries such as Mexico, Honduras, Nicaragua, Bolivia and Venezuela are home to large indigenous populations, where the tradition of remembering the dead is particularly strong.

Venezuelan daily El Universal reported an expected "total of 10,000 people" to visit the South General Cemetery in the capital Caracas over the two-day celebration that began on Sunday.

Some 5,000 residents visited the graves of friends and relatives on Sunday alone.

The celebration, which originated in Mexico and spread to other Latin American countries and even parts of the United States, calls for remembering the deceased by visiting and sprucing up their tombs or erecting altars at home featuring offerings of food and drink.

In Nicaragua's capital Managua, the secretary of the municipal council, Reyna Ruedas, said the city is planning to establish a new cemetery to alleviate the congestion during the celebration.

Juanita Castro, a local resident, told Xinhua she and her children traditionally visited the grave of her late husband at Managua's general cemetery to clear the place and lay fresh flowers.

Many families place tablecloths over or alongside the graves, and bring along a dish the deceased particularly liked, so they can "share" a picnic-style meal.

Arturo Cajina, a cemetery keeper, said he earns the most this time of the year, as relatives would ask him to help prune nearby plants and paint or clean the tomb.

With more families paying their respect at the cemetery, flower vendor Veronica Leiva in Managua said sales this year were much better than last year.

In the neighboring Honduras, some families visited graves with mariachi bands in tow to serenade the deceased.

In Bolivia, the government declared Monday a holiday, so families could welcome the visiting spirits of the deceased with offerings, prayers and chants.

This year, the imported holiday of Halloween, called Noche de Brujas or Witches Night in Latin America, was strongly felt throughout the region, with adults and children alike dressing up in costumes and playing trick-or-treat on the night of Oct. 31.

Given the proximity of the two holidays, Bolivia's deputy minister of Decolonization, Felix Cardenas, urged residents to keep in mind what makes them different.

"It is important to recover our identity to counter Halloween, a foreign cultural presence that doesn't represent either Bolivian culture or society," he said. Endi