23/09/2007
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Barcelona,
Spain and Canary Islands
Sunday, September 23, 2007
Our first stop in the morning (after La Vid, of course) was the Mostra d'Associacions that takes place in Placa de Catalunya. Dozens of stalls are occupied by various charities, unofficial bodies and special interest groups. We bought a handful of t-shirts from Amnesty, the Castellers de Barcelona and other bodies. It was hot and the sun was shining, a group of people were learning clown skills, a couple of bands were playing live music and there was a carnival atmosphere. On one stage a 5-piece were playing suitably steamy samba so we stopped to listen for a while. They were followed by a performance from a group who are keeping alive traditional dances from earlier centuries.
It was a day for drifting around and we eventually found ourselves for the first time in our many visits to Barcelona in the beautiful Palau del Lloctinent (Viceroy's Palace). The venerable exterior conceals a bright and colourful interior where arched and vaulted colonnades surround a central courtyard with a small reflective pool. A touch of sensitive modernity is provided by the impressive 1975 St. Georges Door by Josep Maria Subirachs. Outside, the Placa del Rei looked almost entirely mediaeval with the exception of the temporary stage and seating.
Next on the agenda was a return trip to Placa de Sant Jaume for the Castellers. This is another of the traditional events that ends up being more exciting than it sounds. People have been building human castles in Catalonia since the 19th century and it attracts an enthusiastic local following supplemented by hundreds of open mouthed tourists. Starting off on the concrete and flagstone floor of the square dozens of hefty men, many of whom would look pretty fearsome on the front row of a rugby scrum link together to form a solid base. At some signal another load of slightly lighter people swarm up the sides and create a second level. This goes on for another 4 or five layers until a trio of small boys or girls start scrambling up the sides of what is now a very tall column. The last and smallest, wearing no more protection than a hard helmet reaches the top, raises his or her arm in the air as a salute to the crowd and then descends as quickly as possible on the other side. The castle disassembles itself with surprising speed but the whole construction often takes five or more minutes - an incredible feat of endurance for the strong men propping the whole thing up.
Castellers don't just perform at La Mercé but can be seen at other times and it's sometimes possible to attend their practice sessions. If you're in Catalonia and there are Castellers nearby, go and see. You won't regret it.
The day was getting warmer and the Castellers crowd was close-packed and hot, so the wine festival beckoned again. We spent an enjoyable time at the Pinord stand sampling a pretty dry rosé wine and a gorgeous red called Clos 15 but as is often the case a bottle of Canals & Canals pink cava won the day.
We picked up a few sticks of fuet, a pungent and tasty dry sausage and made our way down to the harbour's edge again. Later in the afternoon the Forn Franquesa got a second visit and yesterday's sugar coated foccacia was beaten by the same thing but with chocolate paste inside! It probably shouldn't really be eaten with a dry cava but it seemed to work fine. The fish didn't get quite so much this time.
After a walk around the gothic quarter we decided to nip into Vendimia for a few plates of tapas before the evening's highlight, Xambanga. This is a noisy street procession, centred on the Gegants from different parts of the city accompanied by drummers, bands and people in fancy dress. Huge quantities of confetti are thrown into the crowds that throng the route of the procession along with more than a little flour. This later activity is apparently frowned on officially but we didn't mind and it showed up quite well on CC's dark t-shirt. This year's Xambanga was due to finish on Placa de Sant Jaume so after watching the start at Placa dels Angels we caught up with the front again just before it reach La Rambla and then nipped through part of the Barri Gotic to Carrer de Ferran to see the last leg. We got there before the parade and found a good spot to stand. It was there were we realised that lots of tourists were staring at us because we were covered in coloured confetti and a bit of flour - and it was clear that some visitors were spending time in the city without even realising there's so much going on.
There was more music in Placa Reial and we had worked up an appetite so we went back to Cerveceria Canarias where we shared a table with a trio of girls from Cork who had visited Barcelona without knowing much about the festival but were having a thoroughly good time and were already planning to return.
Canarias is a lively bar, well placed for watching the comings and goings on the square and the patatas with garlic sauce is excellent and inexpensive but the staff we came in to contact with were just about the most surly and unwelcoming we've encountered anywhere in Spain. The size of the tips we all left were testament to that.
