Barcelona The Mercé

In our opinion Barcelona is one of the most beautiful and exciting cities in Europe and we think that the best time to visit is from around 19th September to 26th September, for the ‘Mercé’ the annual celebration of one of the city’s patron saints, the Virgin of the Mercé.  This has to be one of the best parties in Europe. There are hundreds of events and activities taking place all over the city, many of them free, from small scale pieces of street theatre to enormous firework displays set to music.

So what is there to do and see in the Mercé?

In no particular order, how’s this for starters?

The Correfoc - a procession through the street of the Barri Gotic, of dracs and bestjes culminating in all of these nightmare creatures being driven through the gates of hell (in front of the Post Office where else?). Come again it’s essentially controlled mayhem. Different districts of the city have wheeled dragons and other monsters (dracs) and they parade through the city accompanied by different drum and whistle bands, dressed as devils and other nasties (bestjes). The dracs are covered in firecrackers and the bestjes carry poles to which more crackers are fixed, and every 20 or 30 metres they stop and set them all off. The poles are spun round creating hemispheres of sparks that people dance in. The noise, the sparks and the smell of gunpowder is overwhelming and exhilarating and we challenge you not to want to take part. There is a primeval feel to the dancing, as people huddle closer and closer together, forming tight groups around the pole carriers, ducking low to avoid the sparks. It is, for us the highlight of the festival. If you’re in Barcelona when it happens, don’t miss it, but if you want to join in, make sure you come prepared. The fireworks are real and can burn. Sparks fly everywhere. Consider wearing hats, and gloves and some kind of scarf to stop hot stuff getting down your neck and maybe even goggles. In fact cover up as much as possible, preferably with flame resistant fabrics. Have a look at what the official participants wear and you’ll realise how seriously they take it. There seem to be more people in Barcelona wearing eye patches the day after Correfoc than you see anywhere else at any other time.

Catalan wine and food festival - hard to think of many better ways to spend an afternoon. An opportunity to try and buy some of the best local produce. Lots of wines, cheeses and sausages at bargain prices direct from the producers. Some ability with the Spanish language would be a help here if you want to talk in depth to the producer, but you don’t need a single word of Spanish to enjoy the food and drinks. If previous experience is anything to go by, you purchase a set of tickets from a stall near the entrance that entitles you to 6 samples of wine and 2 lots of food. The price is just a few euros and you get to keep the commemorative wine glass and terracotta bowl that comes with the tickets. The wine samples are generous so stroll around and see what’s on offer. Good quality Cavas feature strongly and many of these wines can hold their heads high in the company of the world’s finest sparkling wines. You probably won’t find them at better prices than here. Seek out the pink Cavas, sample a few and then buy a bottle or two. You can of course open the bottle and drink it there. If you think you might do this, then time your visit for the day of the…

Barcelona Air Show - the wine and food festival is on the old harbour (Port Vell), near the IMAX cinema and this is one of the best places from which to view the air show, the majority of the action for which takes place just off shore. Top aerobatics teams from all over the world zoom up and down the beach, so grab your wine, find a seat and enjoy. Don’t forget your Factor 15 though.

Fireworks - if the Correfoc isn’t enough then expect big displays most nights of the festival. The International Pyrotechnics Competition is pretty well exactly what it sounds like. Some of the worlds best display organisers come to Barcelona to try to impress. They certainly impress us. Be careful not to use up all your superlatives too quickly. Best of all, if you like crowds, is the grand finale, on the final evening of the festival. Miss this at your peril. Details will be found in the programme of events that you should be able to find at various places around the city.

Music and dance - for all tastes. There are numerous concerts, lots of them free, with music from across the spectrum. In 2002 & 2003 we got to see Spanish Ska band ‘Radio Raheem’ in both Placa de Catalunya and Placa Reial. We heard folk music, classical, pop and rock. There was Sardana in front of the cathedral, waltz and quickstep in Placa Sant Jaume and tango all over the place. A Scottish police pipe band was a stirring sight and sound in 2003 although the local press expressed disappointment the following day because they had been expecting 400 pipers and only got 40. With the noise the band made, 400 might have reduced La Rambla to rubble!

Towers and Giants - building human towers is a local tradition and you can go and watch it in Placa Sant Jaume. Much more exciting than it sounds. Some of the towers have 7, 8 or even 9 layers of people, with some very strong men in the lower layers, and some real lightweights at the top. In one of our pictures the tower collapsed under its own weight, but the young girl who was at the top retained her composure even when she was hurtling down towards the ground. She landed, fairly safely on top of the other members of her team, but one or two from the lower strata had to be helped off the stage. Hopefully their injuries were minor. Many districts of Barcelona have Gegants huge images, mostly of men and women but with other stranger creatures mixed in which they parade around at various times during the Mercé. There’s a huge final parade, starting in Placa de Catalunya on the final day, but more fun is the Xambanga a noisy and lively night-time parade which you should try to get close to. Take lots of confetti to throw.

Magic fountains - anyone who watched the 1992 Olympic Games might remember the coloured fountains that featured in the opening and closing ceremonies. These can be found between the Palau Nacional and Placa D’Espanya. The fountains ‘perform’ to music each night during the festival. It’s a bit cheesy but pretty nonetheless. Get there early to get a good seat on the steps down from the palace.

Barcelona the rest

Good places to eat and drink - there is no shortage of good places to eat and drink in the city centre and you don’t need to spend a fortune. Places on La Rambla tend to be more expensive than most and quality seems variable. For drinks, Taxidermista on Placa Reial is a good place to sit outside late in the day. There is a variety of bars on Carrer Ample and Carrer de Merce, many of which are a little less ‘toursity’ than on La Rambla. Near the far end (away from La Rambla) on the left-hand side there is an Asturian-style sidra house which is worth a visit for the traditional and rather intoxicating cider and especially the ‘chorizo el diable’ tapas that they serve. If you sit upstairs you can use a hand pump to aerate your cider.

At the end of Carrer de la Merce you come out onto the square in front of the post office. On the corner is a well lit tapas bar (Vendimiana) with the tapas laid out in glass cabinets around the U-shaped bar. This place is unpretentious and attracts lots of locals and the food is great and very reasonably priced, as are the drinks. For breakfast you can do much worse than one of the ‘Boccata’ outlets that are dotted about the city. This is simply a fast food chain that serves hot and cold boccadillos (similar to baguettes), coffee etc. The set menus for a couple of Euros should be enough to give you a good start to the day.

Tourist attractions - the main tourist attractions of Barcelona are well documented elsewhere. Amongst our favourites are the Fundacio Miro, which is worth the entrance fee for the mercury fountain, the Drassanes, the mediaeval dockyard at the harbour end of La Rambla and the harbour cable car.

Outside Barcelona

Montserrat

If you like mountains and fancy a trip out of the city, then Montserrat is an easy hour’s train ride away. Well it’s sort of easy. Trains leave from Placa de Catalunya but you need to make sure that you find your way to the national rail network, rather than the metro.

When you find the correct departure point, there is also a rather confusing array of tickets that can be purchased, and this seems to vary from year to year. In 2002 you could buy a ticket for the train and return journey on the cable car that leaves from Montserrat Aeri station and is probably the most exciting way to arrive on the mountain. This ticket didn’t seem to be available in 2003 because a new mountain tramline had been opened and the round ticket included the return tram ride. We decided to get off the train early, at Aeri and pay the extra few euros for the cable car and then get the tram on the downward leg. There is also a ticket usually called ‘Tot Montserrat” that includes a meal in one of the restaurants near the top cable car station. This is rather an expensive option and unless you really want to eat here, is probably best avoided.

When you get to the area around the famous Montserrat shrine, you will find that you have several options, including queuing to see the sacred Madonna and Child. Our preference is to take the upper funicular to about 1000 metres asl and then follow one of the tracks to get a better look at the fascinating rock formations. The tracks are well maintained and easy to follow and a reasonably fit person can get to the summit in well under 3 hours, allowing plenty of time for stops for photography, admiring the view etc. The final section to the highest point of the mountain is both steep and exposed, although mainly on man-made concrete steps.

It’s worth remembering that although less than 1300m tall a small mountain by Spanish standards, Montserrat is still a mountain and can be prone to sudden changes in weather at any time. Consider taking food and especially drink and some warm clothes or even waterproofs. In September 2002, at about 4 p.m. the day we went to the summit a mist came down suddenly about half a mile before we got back to the funicular and a light but chilly drizzle started. By the time we got down to Aeri the whole summit of the mountain was shrouded in thick cloud.