Una gata y sus gatitos vivían bajo la escuela

What does “dar a luz” mean in Spanish, literally?

Dar a luz means “to give birth” — but split into its parts, it says something more vivid than the English phrase: dar is “to give” and a luz is “to the light,” literally “to give to the light.” The image is birth as a passage out of darkness and into view — the same arc as this clip’s mother cat, whose litter was born and hidden under a school floor until a smell finally gave them away.

You’ll meet dar a luz constantly in news stories, nature documentaries, and family anecdotes — it’s the default, neutral verb for “give birth” in Spanish, not a poetic one-off. The related noun alumbramiento (childbirth) comes from the same root, alumbrar, “to light up” or “to give birth.”