Catalonian fire festival, and Barcelona time

So on Saturday, a couple of us went to a festival (what I was told was a "fire-and-meat" festival) in Barcelona...which I think was more of a type of traditional Catalonian festival. It was a very authentic experience, I don't know how many tourists were there but we really got a sense of Catalonian traditional culture.

Of course, there were a ton of people there (and by the time we got there--1 am--you were either stepping on someone's foot or a discarded beer can. How very Spanish). There were a bunch of really large bonfires, which I think had been used to grill meat earlier but by the time we got there I think they had stopped that. At the center was a stage with a band, but the music they played was very traditional sounding...more western European traditional than Spanish. There was no singing, it was very rhythmic and involved wind instruments. Including a bagpipe....?

Dotted around the crowd were these groups of people dancing. Some (like these in the picture) were doing a sort of rhythmic dance with these little finger clicker instruments that involved a lot of moving and turning. In the center of the crowd were some professional dancers who started the traditional Catalonian dance...I forget what it's called...but it's essentially a very complicated hora. It's a circle dance, and everyone throws their coats and bags in the middle and you dance around them. We tried to get in the circle and learn, but we kept bumping into people and I stepped on someone's foot. Woops? :)

We also saw some Spaniards doing a third type of dancing, but again we could not figure it out when we asked them to teach us. They were from Mallorca, which is one of the Balearic islands (off the coast of Spain). Even though we couldn't learn the dance at all, I always love how diverse the people are in Barcelona; you rarely ever meet just a Spaniard.

I also think it was some sort of Catalonian traditional festival because of the sign that hung above this entire central area: "Independence and Socialism" (you can also see one of the big fires here). There is a huge movement in Catalonia that wants to gain independence from Spain. As students, a lot of us aren't really sure where we stand on the debate just yet, and I can't decide if I want to leave here with a flag of Catalunya or Spain. It's a really big issue here and I find it fascinating. Of course, the sign is in Catalán, not Spanish (cannot wait to take my Catalán course, it's going to be so helpful).


Just wanted to share a really cool experience that felt so quintessential and typical of Barcelona. In typical Spaniard style, of course, there were still a ton of people there at around 2. We left to go find a place to hang out, but by 3 everywhere had closed except for the discotecas. We wandered around the city for about an hour looking for something to eat but had no luck. Lessons learned:

1. Spanish time standards are much different from American time standards.
2. The reason that dinner is so late is because people don't really go out until at least midnight
3. Everything closes at 3, when everyone goes to the discotecas
4. Everything reopens at 6, when people leave the discotecas
5. You can meet people from all over the world simply by taking the subway (we met a Swede this time!)
6. Morning is actually bedtime for most of Barcelona

But now, bedtime for me before class tomorrow. Buenas noches!