Last month, I was not expecting any traditional festivities to be taking place around me. However, on September 20th, just I was leaving my residence hall to grab dinner with some friends, there was a parade with dragons, demons and sparklers just down the street! I put two and two together and realized it was La Mercè, or a festival celebrating Barcelona's saints and traditions that one of my professors had mentioned recently.
La Mercè is an annual festival held in honor of Our Lady of Mercy (La Mare de Déu de la Mercè), or the patron saint of the city. It is said that Our Lady of Mercy became the patron saint because she protected Barcelona from a plague of locusts. The festival has many events across several days, and I downloaded an app dedicated to the festival to see the schedule of all the events. Some important festivities during La Mercè that I got to see included Castells, a human tower climbing competition, and Correfoc, a "fire run" where people dressed as devils run through the streets, setting off fireworks and sparklers. There were also many parades and concerts throughout the city featuring giants, people in traditional clothing, traditional instruments and fireworks.
