2023 Festival of Sant Joan: fires, fireworks, an all-night fiesta

Our first Festival of Sant Joan was like a combination of New Year Eve and the Fourth of July: an all day celebration that continued on into dawn, with fireworks, bonfires, and general festivities.  The date commemorates Saint John's birth, which Christianity overlaid upon the pagan summer solstice celebrations. The evening of June 23rd is where all the action takes place, the "Nit de Sant Joan" or "la Revetlla de Sant Joan", a giant outdoor party; the 24th is a holiday, and from our terrace it seems the city is totally quiet, not even a honking horn or siren.

It's celebrated with fire, which represents cleansing, purification, and protection, and in pagan times,  an offering of additional energy to the waning days after the solstice. There's a LOT of fire. It starts with a torch that comes down from Catalan regions in the French Pyrenees -- where the flame is kept alive all year -- and then to Barcelona's Camp Nou, and on to the Plaça Sant Jaume; after some pomp, it's used to light torches which are taken to the various neighborhoods throughout Barcelona for their own festivities. Families join neighborhood bonfires and light off their own fireworks; the preference for Sant Joan is for the loud explosions to scare away the demons, rather than visual pyrotechnics. It's traditional for people to bring unwanted furniture for the fire, or to bring a note with things they want to eliminate from their lives to burn in the fires. 

In the morning, we did some shopping: our grocery store's entrance had a huge stack of booze just inside the door, so we knew this was going to be a big day. We stopped by the shop Parami and bought a traditional Coca cake with dried fruit for the next day when everything will be shut. 

We missed the procession of the flame down Gran Via near our house, so we took a bus up the coast to the last beach in Barcelona. As we walked in the sand back toward town, the beaches were beginning to fill up. We saw folks who had set up a DJ station with amps and big speakers (and a couple of cases of beer), another that had a bunch of congas, bongos, and other percussion, and had dug a sunken seating area for guests. (Sorry, no pictures).

After walking through a dog beach, family beaches, nude beach, gay beach, and more family beaches, we finally stopped at a beach bar Xiringuito Vai Moana for refreshing drink. The sun was starting to set, so we caught a bus back to our neighborhood of Sant Antoni to check out the action. Barcelona was expecting 60,000 people to hit the beach tonight, and we we saw city workers putting out hundreds of trash and recycling bins.

We like the Campari Spritz better than the popular Aperol Spritz.

The streets were filled with hundreds of tables and chairs, the neighbors brought their own food and drink and looked liked they'd been enjoying being outside for hours. In the distance, we could see the bonfire, peaking a couple of stories high. A block from the fire, we began to feel the heat. Kids were merrily lighting off fireworks.

In the intersection, the Trapelles de Sant Antoni had set up a huge bonfire; these adults (and kids!) dress in fireproof red devil costumes and are responsible for the fire-spitting animals like Sant Antoni's emblematic pig, and also organize the correfocs (fire runs) at other celebrations; it's good-humored and they keep things safe. They'd add furniture and other wood to the fire, and escort people who wanted to burn notes listing things they wanted to discard in their lives. 

It was really hot, even sitting on sidewalk around the intersection. Fortunately, Moritz brewery had a stand, and we snagged some seats at an outdoor cafe where we could get some cold Estrella beer (Galicia and Damm), for only 2,50€ each. One of the Trapelles became a live version of the "This is fine..." meme, before throwing the the chair into the flames.

He then added more boards to feed the fire.

We went around the corner to check out the music, and were surprised at all the people filling the street. They band played music that sounded a lot like ska, but in Spanish, and the singer had a ton of energy.

We started to head home, but of course found another cafe open, with families watching their young kids throwing fireworks into the pedestrianized street, then scampering away before the explosion. We had a couple of drinks and then heard them counting down: it had just turned to midnight, at which time they all sat down and started ordering drinks and snacks -- the night was far from over.

Only two blocks from home we stopped at a bar which we've been enjoying recently, Absenta del Raval, for a nightcap.  At 1 am, they shoed us away: because the cafe tables are in the middle of a dense neighborhood, all the tables and chairs have to be brought in so folks can sleep; seems reasonable to me.

When we got home, we could see from our terrace that the party was still going strong throughout the city. In every direction we looked there were spectacular explosions of fireworks and huge booms that went on well past 2am. The weather here is comfortable enough we can sleep with the glass doors open and get fresh air, and despite the noise, we were able to get some sleep, aided by a nightcap of Fernet.

On Saturday, we enjoyed our Coca for breakfast on the terrace; it was eerily quiet, especially compared to last night.

Next year, now that we know a little more, I hope we'll pack a cooler full of cava and snacks, and take a bus to the beach around midnight. We understand things don't get going to then, and it's common to take a swim in the sea before welcoming the dawn sun. An article says there were 80,000 people on the beach, partying until 6:30am when the city cleaned up the beaches for the new day; there were no major incidents -- pretty amazing, really. 

Biking Bad: first ride in Barcelona -- from home to Badalona

Our bikes arrived in our shipment from the US, and all we had to do was attach the front wheels and pump up the tires. Sunday was going to be cool and clear, and we wanted to explore Barcelona by bike, sticking to mostly flat terrain -- a ride along the coast seemed to fit the bill. It turned out to be a 29Km (18 mi) ride -- pleasant, mostly protected, and flat. 

The first struggle was getting out of the building: these little elevators barely fit one human and their bike -- standing up -- barely enough room to push the button

We headed out our street, along Gran Via, and kept losing the bike lane: initially, we had our own protected lane along the slip lane, then it diverged at Plaça Universidad, then back again. At Plaça Tetuan, we had to "jump the left, then a step to the right" to go around the top of the traffic circle.  After a while we turned right, heading toward the water on Carrer de la Marina and could see the iconic Torre Mapfre and Hotel Arts buildings:

Torre Mapfre, Hotel Arts

We hit the beach at Port Olímpic, looking over the volleyball courts on Platja de la Nova Icària:

then headed northeast along the coast to see where it would take us. We'd taken the R1 train line up the coast and figured we could follow the path we'd seen from the window -- at least to Badalona across the river, and someday up to Matarò. Turns out we were a little optimistic in the condition of the route.

While some of it was flat paved walkways with lots of folks promenading. We also hit bits of hard packed sand/gravel/soil, which was OK but my bike's skinny tires were not right for it. Further along, more rough patches, and some unexpected raised giant pipes large enough to drive a small car along; not enough for timid bikers with a 10 foot drop to the rocks below, so we walked them along the ridge.

I think Barcelona is doing a lot of work to shore up its ... shore: to protect from sea level rise, old paths may have been torn up for the construction. I expect the city will rebuild the paths, for bikes and pedestrians, even better than before. It's certainly passable, just don't expect pristine smooth riding yet.

We then reached the Parc del Forum which is a massive space with a mix of beaches, ports, sailing, SCUBA diving, long boats, parks, marinas, festival areas, and on and on.  When we visited, we saw folks returning in a an oared longboat, and others practicing diving in wetsuits. But it had a huge feel with not enough people, strangely underutilized. It looks perfect for massive festivals, and I've read these do take place here; I want to return in warmer weather and see what the vibe is like. Visually dominating the site  is a massive photovoltaic (solar) cell array that looks like stadium seating that's lost its stadium. You can ride under it and right up to it for some great views. 

A little farther, over dramatic elevated bike/pedestrian skyways we came to a working port. All the grassland under us was concealing multi-story dry docks for boats! We watched a mammoth forklift  retrieve a boat from the water and deftly take it inside for the winter.

We continued on the on-again, off-again trail -- nothing too arduous or threatening to skinny tires -- and crossed the Rio Besos where there is a wonderful wetland area where freshwater merges with the Mediterranean. We got closer and closer to the Three Chimneys, a massive ex-industrial site that exudes power, grace, and age -- it's magnificent from any angle, and any distance.

We ended up in the suburban area of Badalona, where we biked right into the middle of a booming wholesale market area that went on for blocks in ever direction; everything seemed to be Chinese import dealers. It was vibrant and full of activity -- on a Sunday!  

But after riding, we were ready for some food and drink and headed into the residential and main streets of Badalona. We didn't have to look far to find a friendly place in the sun for a bite -- including Gambas Saladas -- slender pale shrimp, barely cooked, with a good taste of salt, cool and refreshing. Very pleasant with a couple glasses of wine and a Märzen-style beer from Turia in Valencia.

It's fall, and the sun is setting early, which means that the temperature drops quickly here. So we headed back home on what we thought was a good direct route.... Unfortunately, Google Maps doesn't know bike routes in Barcelona, and we were unable to hop over the fenced train tracks for the "best route" home. But we improvised and crossed the Besos again, cycled through some peaceful industrial neighborhoods, and wound up on Avinguda Diagonal, which here had a large tree-lined promenade and separate bike lanes, with tram lines on the side; this was probably my favorite part of the ride: so peaceful and graceful.

We then navigated around some major construction at Plaça de les Glòries, meandered through attractive leafy parks, and ended up on our familiar street, Carrer de la Diputació. This was great, it spanned the entire area of downtown Barcelona with a protected lane, just a block above our street. We crossed the magnificent Passeig de Gracia, and took in the holiday lights they'd been hanging, already sparkling, twinkling, and stobing with iridescent and dramatic dichroic hues; we can't wait to return and seem them after dark!

My big take away from our first biking adventure? Biking parallel to the coast is a relaxing ride free of hills, perfect for wimps like us. The city streets are full of protected bike lanes, frequently with their own crosswalks and signals, but sometimes they jump from left, to center, to the right of the road, so we've gotta pay attention and learn how to read the symbols on the road. Barcelona clearly cares about its bike riders, but the route along the beach seems torn up, although I believe this is temporary and we'll have much better coastal rides in the future.  

I'm looking forward to riding a lot more, the city is very accommodating to bikes (and pedestrians), and it's a great way to explore our new city.