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.
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| 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.
