As I type the sun has just set on the festival of La Mercé here in Barcelona, a 6 day festival which honors the Virgin of Mercy, patron saint of Barcelona. Back in the middle ages Barcelona asked the virgin to help them fight a plague of locusts. When she came through and delivered them from pestilence, the virgin earned herself the title of patroness of Barcelona… and one kick ass celebration in her honor. Her actual feast day is the 24th of September, but why party for just one day? This year the festival began on the 19th, the Friday before the feast day. We only sampled a few of the 600 or so special events that took place during the festival. Our favorites were the traditional celebrations that we attended: the parade of the giants, dragons and beasts, the making of the Castells, and the Correfoc.
Saturday night we headed downtown to see the Passejada de Dracs i Bésties de Foc (Parade of Dragons and Fire Beasts). We went down early, not knowing exactly where we should stand or how crowded it would be. Picking up some gelato along the way, we meandered down a narrow street in old Barcelona, heading toward Plaça de Jaume, the starting point of the parade. Greeting us in the plaza was a large crowd of people. Looming above them were several Gegants: huge paper-mache effigies of kings, queens a nobles that are used in traditional events in Cataluña. Turns out we were early enough to catch a ceremony and subsequent parade involving the Gegants- ¡qué suerte! We wormed our way into the crowd until we were close to a pair of giants that sat, waiting for their turn to be paraded through the crowd. We could see several giants at the other side of the plaza, while others were on their way there, occasionally dancing around each other as the crowd watched. Getting up close to the giants enhanced how very large they are (20ft? 25ft?), and allowed us to come face to face with the men behind the giants, who had stepped out from under the effigy’s long robes to breathe some fresh air (or have a cigarette). At the end of the ceremony the giants lined up in pairs and paraded out of the square, following the same route the beasts would take shortly. Our first spot for parade viewing: directly over a sewer vent. Those giants were cool, but I was willing to miss some key moments with them to move us all to a spot |
where the air smelled a little fresher. Once found, we camped out there, enjoyed the remaining giants as they passed, and sat down to wait for the beasts.
This being our first beast parade, we were surprised each time we were hit with water. Isaac and Felix would squeal with delight, breaking out of the trance the beasts had put them under to crouch down in effort to avoid the water. One mischievous pig caught me completely by surprise by spraying me with water- from his nose- right as I was trying to take his photo. Little did we know this audience mistreatment was a very tame affair by Catalunian standards… the Correfoc was coming. The final element of the parade? The street cleaning crew. Spaniards are nothing if not on top of keeping their street clean. More posts about La Mercé: Dragons and Kings (by Isaac) The Battle Between the Humans and the Monsters (by Felix) Pineapples and Sweat (by Teal) Correfoc- coming soon! | Body-vibrating drums announced the beasts’ arrival. Each creation was preceded by a local drumming group whose beats added instant energy and excitement to the procession. But the true stars were the beasts, who came looming out of the dark, their features illuminated by the sparklers attached to their bodies. While not huge like the giants, the beasts are impressive because they have been well crafted to be sinister looking, a creepiness which was highlighted by the irregular light cast on them by the fireworks. Each beast was aided by a group of people who guided them down the street, kept their fireworks aflame, and interacted with the spectators by occasionally dousing us with water or confetti. |