Gràcia is a charming and independently-minded barrio (neighborhood, not slum!) near to but quite different from Eixample, with narrow, shady streets and a strong community feel, including numerous festivals, one this past weekend. It is very Catalonian, so my husband and I were not surprised to find carrefocs, gigantes, castellers, bandas, and caganers (more on that later). We were also delighted to discover a Morris-like dance team!
This festival takes place in three main squares and a handful of decorated streets. One of the streets I am calling Alphabet street, which featured the letters of the alphabet and was mostly or completely decorated with the works of children. I am embarrassed to admit I did not at the time examine the letters closely to determine whether both the Spanish and Catalan alphabets were featured. I will claim extreme heat as the excuse for this and any other flaws you may find herein. The other street in the pictures I think of as Sign street, though Flag street might also work. The red statue sign slogan on the schedule side translates as Always Catalan, Always Antifa, then later Grassroots Activism. On the pedestal below is says If I’m wrong... ellipsis inserted by me. Under the teeth in the front the slogan is I speak without shame.
My favorite street was called Enchanted Greenhouse. The entire space was enclosed as a greenhouse would be and filled with plants and animals that reminded me more of Santa Cruz than BCN, though of course our climates are similar. You’ll see butterflies, hummingbirds, spiky plants, trumpet-shaped plants, and bird-of-paradise, all common in SC. Everything is oversized: that lady bug is bigger than my hand, and the enclosure was actually cooled by its roof, not retaining heat as a real greenhouse would do–thank goodness!
I have no idea why one picture in the WordPress Gallery feature is always so much larger than the rest. There is probably a way for me to at least choose which one but I haven’t done that. Picture blogs always take longer, and this one is a bear!
The Morris dancers, who were not actually Morris dancers, were amazing. This was one of the most complex dances I have seen and it looks a lot like Morris dancing, though my husband, the expert, assures me it is not. Certainly the music is different, and they aren’t focus on stepping, but they’ve got sticking and very complex figures, and they dance in sets. If you want the full experience, watch the dance. The stills don’t do it justice, but will be fine for the non-fanatics among you.
There were two casteller events, which is when a troop of acrobatic people form human towers and then a child climbs to the very top. The first day we saw two 3-level towers and the next day a much scarier-looking 6-level tower. It is hard to both watch and take pictures, especially when you are in a crowd of people who are an average of 178 cm tall and you aren’t, so we opted to watch. Also, it ends quickly: as soon as the child reaches the top, they start taking it down, no drumrolls or ta-das. The castellers arrived with a parade including some animals and a couple of gigantes. Here are pictures of one of each.
The carrefocs were also hard to capture due to the crowds. They paraded in as well, so we got some of the costumes then, and at least one action shot of a woman with a small monster on her back while the sparks are shooting out of the spinning mechanism on her head. The third picture is the back of the monster at the bottom. Wearing these outfits, running, and working with fire are all hot work. I did not envy them.
So now we come to the caganers. The final picture shows another carrefoc team relaxing after their performance, and I took it because the costumes are striking. However, because of where I was standing, I happen to capture some of the decorations in the main Square, which is something that I’m not crazy about, and I considered cropping it, but decided that maybe it’s time for me to come clean.
In Barcelona quite a few people are obsessed with the caganer, or shitting man, and representations of human excrement that greatly resemble the poop emoji. This theme is extremely prevalent at Navidad when you can buy figurines of pretty much every famous person and beloved character in modern or ancient Western culture squatting down and producing a load, while many families add caganers to their home creche. The giant flies, huge turd, and ceiling of small turds you are see are only part of the decor here, which also includes an enormous toilet and equally huge outhouse, displays of animal scat, and so much more.
I think it’s weird, although I realize poop has really been trending these last few decades. It started with fart jokes in movies, including “serious” movies, then moved to explosive diarrhea, which I once heard someone characterize as “always funny.” Did she ever have it? There’s also a lot of vomiting in shows, and even books. Speaking of books, remember “Everybody Poops”? I never read that to my kids, or had it in the house. I don’t enjoy watching people vomit and shit. I’ve never seen the movie Bridesmaids, or any other movie famous for food poisoning displays, at least not on purpose. Am I the oddball, or is it really not weird to enjoy such things? Either way, I’m definitely living in the land of those who do.