This blog is dedicated to the amazing weekend that just wrapped up a few hours ago. As you may be able to tell from the title, La Mercè is the biggest festival all year in Barcelona, and man is it fun! It started as a feast day in 1871 to celebrate Our Lady of Mercy, La Mare de Déu de la Mercè, and has only grown in popularity since. The city buzzes with activity all weekend, and the montage of music, pyrotechnics, fire-wielding demons (actually), and human legos is enough to bewilder even the most unflappable extranjero. Here were some highlights:
Dancing Giants - The weekend kicked off with the graceful promenades of 20-foot tall giants.. Three pairs of gigante royalty, as well as an assortment of creatures (monster, dragon, horse, lion..) took the dance floor at the center of Placa de Sant Jaume in front of a delighted throng hundreds strong. It's a quaint tradition, and I have to give the giants credit for having far more aptitude at dancing than I. Here's a pic my friend took of the prince and his princess on their way to cutting loose Footloose style:
Castells - Catalonians are famous for the art of stacking themselves 8 or 9 layers high on top of one another in amazing displays of strength, stamina, and teamwork called castells. I was impressed with the variety of techniques (such as 4 x 8, 1 x 3 or 2 x 7) that the castell teams used to construct these physics-defying structures. Each design is a bit different, but in general 20 or 30 people form a strong base, on top of which tiers of 2-4 people link arms and legs. Perhaps the most entertaining part of the process comes when the enxaneta, a nimble young child less than 70 lbs in weight, quickly scales the mountain of flesh - unabashedly grabbing hold of his companions' shins, shirts & shoulders - and races to the top, where he or she proudly waves a hand to indicate the successful completion of the pyramid. Over the course of an hour or so, we saw several teams form 12 or 15 castells, with only one failed attempt. The high success rate is not due to the ease of the practice, but rather the skill and commitment of the teams. Here's a pic to give you some idea of what I'm talking about:
Diablos y Fuego - Ok, this was my favorite part of the weekend. I'm not sure how the Correfoc actually gets its name, but I wouldn't be surprised if it came from the word Corre (Spanish for RUN) + a common English profanity.. Basically, it's like the running of the bulls except that instead of bulls chasing you, you get horned pitchfork-wielding dudes with fire. In all seriousness, it's only as dangerous as you want it to be, but still Cataluña is crazy. Here's what goes down: men and women dress like demons, wait for nightfall, and then fire menacing shots into the air as they assemble their forces of hell. Then, the gate opens (not kidding) and hundreds of the diablos rush out with very bright, very hot sparklers shoved on the end of an what appears to be an iron torture device. The sparklers throw specks of fire in every direction, and it's up to you to stay on the side of the street or go and dance with the demons. Of course, I had to dance! Even though you inevitably get burned if you elect to rumba with the rabble-rousers, the worst part is the noise the firecrackers make. Every time they burn out (which is pretty frequently), they emit a bang reminiscent of a banished Boggart. The bangs are disturbing enough when you're 30 yards away, but when they go off right by your ear they are downright deafening. Despite all the pitfalls, I immensely enjoyed the event and now have a burn mark-speckled t-shirt as a souvenir. In case you're wondering why hundreds of otherwise-normal civilians enjoy terrorizing the populace, the key is early inculcation: there is a "kiddy parade" two hours before the real deal in which 5 and 6 year olds run around with the same hot, dangerous sparklers and learn how to be a part of the Barcelonian occult. Crazy!
Concerts - Alright I'm running out of steam a bit here, but I'll try to make it to the end of the blog. The concerts were really great, and they took place all over the city. Among the bands I saw: The Morning Benders, OK Go, Belle and Sebastian, a cool samba/salsa gig, and a ridiculous politically-ramped up Senegalian rap group. Lots of gente (that's people) but fun stuff.
Fireworks - This deserves a bit of attention because it was really cool. There were fireworks all weekend, but by far the biggest & best show was Sunday night; it served as a wonderful nightcap on the weekend. At the base of Montjuic (a famous mini-mountain in Barca), the festival put on an incredible, synchronized pyrotechnics exhibition complemented by a musical montage and water fountain show. The music really added a lot to the already phenomenal fireworks, and at least 75% of the songs were American classics - think "We Will Rock You," "Imagine," "Birdland," & "I'm Yours" (ok, not a classic but you get my point)... Probably overall the best fireworks show I've ever seen. A big chunk of the city (thousands and thousands) showed up on the wide promenade leading from Placa Espanya to the mountain, and everyone just soaked in the sights & sounds.
Thanks for sticking with me through what I'd guess is a mutually exhausting blog post. ¡Adéu!
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