Crash Course in Catalan Culture

Over the last couple weeks I’ve gotten to know Barcelona and Cataluña quite a bit better, first through a weekend trip to Besalú and Figueres, and most recently through the festival La Merce. The week in between was filled with essays and presentations, so I’ll just write about the interesting stuff.

Besalú and Figueres:

Last Saturday a group of us jumped on a bus to head up to a small town, seemingly in the middle of nowhere, called Besalú. No one in our group had heard of it, but anytime I asked about it I got a response something like “Besalú? Oh, the place with the wall” or “I hear it has a nice bridge.” After about an hour of driving we arrived and sure enough, there was a giant wall and bridge. Apparently Besalú was a point of much conflict over the course of several centuries. Of course, these days the old part of town is thriving on that history and is usually packed with tourists. We were there pretty early so the town was empty and stores were just starting to open. For about an hour and half we walked around the cathedral, courtyards, and old streets. We wandered around until we hit the very abrupt transition to modern day: one side of the street is ancient, the other side is completely modern. In the end the two hours we spent in Besalú was plenty to see everything we wanted, and we were excited to get back on the bus to head up to Figueres and check out the Dalí museum.

See the face??  

After a nice drive through the countryside we arrived in Figueres. Before the trip I had seen a TV program about traveling through Cataluña and in the program they showed the Dalí house in this beautiful village on the coast. Thinking that was where were going I pack a swimsuit and beach stuff. Of course, the TV program took place in Cadaques (Dalí’s vacation home) and we were in Figueres (location of the Dalí museum), so I was mildly disappointed to have packed a bathing suit and towel for a trip to a land locked city. Nevertheless, the Dalí museum was amazing, and I was stunned by his creative genius. It seemed that each piece had several layers of depth, and each piece had some sort of significance that contributed to the overall work of art that is the museum itself. The Dalí museum is a complete experience, so the photos can’t do justice, but here are some of my favorites.

See the man? (look at the green strip...it's a tie)

Last week was kind of intense with a lot of school work crammed into four days. When Thursday afternoon rolled around it seemed like all of Barcelona shared my feelings and was ready for the weekend.

La Mercé:

La Mercé is basically a celebration of everything Catalan. Originally it took place on the 24^th of September, but one day of partying is never enough for Cataluña so it was decided that the weekend closest to the 24^th would be celebrated with an extra day off and three full days of festivities (which now start on Thursday too). La Merce is supposed to honor the patron saint of Barcelona after she cured a locust plague, but in reality the celebration is simply of all things Catalan. These days the celebration includes old traditions like Casteller competitions and Sardana dancing, as well as recent post-Franco additions like the Correfoc (fire run). Every night there was a firework show on the beach, which was a great time to relax, chat, drink cheap wine, and get ready for the evening out. In addition to the major events, a few museums were free for the weekend so I took the opportunity to check out the Picasso museum. Unfortunately the Dalí museum has ruined all other art for me because despite the fact that Picasso’s art is amazing, in comparison it’s kind of dull. Anyway, as a whole the weekend was incredible, here is a recap of the coolest events...

Sardana:

If you’re worried about cracking a hip while dancing then the Sardana is for you! It is in no way an exciting dance, but is does have decent amount of history. Some say it started as early as the 16^th century in the Empordá region of Cataluña, but it really grew in popularity when it was adopted by all of Cataluña in the early 20^th century. The dance is very structured: the steps are calculated, men and women must alternate in the circle, pairs are never separated, and the arm movements are determined by the third of the dance (first third down, 2^nd and 3^rd thirds arms up). Some of the older people take this stuff seriously...

Castellers:

You probably haven’t heard about Castellers, and for good reason, chances are they’re banned in the US. Basically Castellers are huge and complex human towers. Catalans have developed competition based on height and difficulty of the towers. The tradition comes from Tarragona, but these days every major town or city has a team. Currently the biggest and best team is from Vilafranca: with over 480 members and the record of a ten person tall tower!! Apparently there some serious rivalry among the various top teams. Also, it turns out that every person on top of the tower is a kid, usually not older that seven. I’m still trying to decide whether or not I think it’s child abuse. Here are some photos and a video of the Casteller competition (the team from Vilafranca are wearing turquoise).

Correfoc: What the foc?

“We are Catalans, and danger is our middle name”

I’d have believed him if he’d said it, particularly after witnessing the Castellers. Unfortunately, instead of these words of truth the speaker chose to give a lengthy and overly political speech. Not that I understood it considering it was in Catalan, but I did pick up a few key quotes... “Fascism!... Corruption!... Our Land! Our People!!” and luckily there were the people me complaining in Castellano (spanish), “why does he have to be so damn political!” Either way the Correfoc was a Catalan celebration to the core. It was the vision of a post-Franco era artist who decided to have a firework show that included the people. The best way I can describe it is if it were a costume house party with the theme “mythical creatures meet modern warfare.” Except that in this case the “house” is all of Barcelona. Basically there are people dressed as devils, and gigantic dragons all loaded with fireworks and sparklers that shoot AT the surrounding people. The spectators either stand far back and watch, or they cover themselves and run through the explosion of flaming sparks. I started out as the former, but sooner or later...




I only got burned a few times, but no worries.

I'm off to go climbing for the weekend tomorrow!! Not sure where we're going, but I'm getting picked up tomorrow at 9 and will find out then. Hopefully I'll have some good stuff to post after the weekend.