So it's a bit late, at least the rainy weather described here matches the wet skies of Bergen in Western Norway where the past three days were spent. Off to Germany I go.
10/17/2008
The days of endless sunshine would have to come to an end as I traveled to the northern neighborhoods of Barcelona in pouring rain. Shirt drenched and guitar in tow, I was greeted by a skinny character with what seemed like a permanent 5 o’clock shadow, cigarette in hand, Antonio Banderas accent and an endless smile.
After some brief introductions we got right down to business, music. It is these things along with smokes and beer that will always be my first memories of Marti. Quite a contrast to the newly re-employed, sober, non-smoking, responsible and tired Marti that he was to become the following week.
Random jamming led to a rumba which resulted in the video and a friendship. The arrangements were to stay for one night, but after hanging out, it was made clear that I could stay as long as I’d wanted.
It so happened there was a festival going on in his neighborhood of Sarria. Apparently, each neighborhood in Barcelona has it’s own week-long festival at some point in the year, this is in addition to the main festival that happens in all off Barcelona annually as well. Marti had organized a bit of a party at his flat where he invited his friends both local and foreign, many of which happened to be musicians.
Being on his balcony, gave us a good vantage point for the Correfoc. Pale in comparison to the larger one that happens in the main festival, it is still something to behold. It’s a long-standing tradition. Essentially, groups of people dress up as devils and run around the streets shooting fireworks which equate to giant spinning sparklers. They march through the streets followed by a drum corps which provides a menacing beat to the sizzle of the sparklers. There are about 8-10 such groups which form a sort of parade with each group trying to out do the other.
The startling part is that all of the kids and young people in the neighborhood
dress up in hooded sweatshirts, don gloves, cover their faces with bandanas and jump under the sparks. Apparently this is the normal! The kids compete to see how many of these you can jump under without getting burned. Inevitably, people walking away from this have hundreds of little holes in their clothing from the burning sparks.
Most of these kids are very young and are often accompanied by their parents. A
stark contrast to NYC where fireworks have been long banned for the very practices that are encouraged here. Our vantage point above the street fortunately allowed us to be mere spectators but everyone at the party assured me they did the very same thing as children. The rest of the party was a roughly four hour jam of various genres as is poorly documented in the video below.
An early rise the next day led us to yet another activity as part of the festivities, Castellars. For more than 200 years groups all over Spain perform this spectacle in which people are stacked on top of each other to build what amounts to human castles. There is a national competition as well as various local ones. I was told the record is 10 men high. Today we were to witness three groups with an average castle height of 8 people.
Each group has roughly 40-60 people, the bulk of which are forming the base of the Castle. Often members from other groups will actual help to form the base. After this, people in decreasing weight form the ensuing levels. Towards the top will usually be the lighter men and women, but the true feat is the fact that the very top is always formed by a child of what appears to be 5-8 years old on average.
Like all of the other levels they must climb the structure of people until they reach the very top. The last child will then climb on the shoulders of one of the other children and raise one hand to the sky signifying that the structure has been completed.
To top it off, once the 2nd level is formed there is always a group of three to four musicians playing a snare drum and what appears to be some flute/pipe type instruments. The music increases in tempo and tension as the structure is just about to be completed further adding to the anxiety already gripping the stomachs of all present.
Once the structure is complete, they must all come down. This is often the most dangerous part as many of these people have now been supporting hundreds of pounds for as long as 10-15 minutes. Therefore, each level must climb down simultaneously and swiftly so as to maintain the lower levels while rushing to alleviate the burden of those at the bottom.
This particular event consisted of three rounds in which each group would construct a castle. A large crowd gathers around the square which is usually that of the local city hall where city officials and team leaders will watch from the balcony. There is also typically a team leader on the ground who directs the strategic placement of each person based on a carefully planned out diagram based on height, weight and aesthetic.
We witnessed a few different structures including one that had four people to a level and stood eight people high as well as the most complicated structure of the day which was a three person per level castle that also had an internal castle of one person per level which went six people high The people in the internal castle had to balance on each others shoulders with no other people for support.
The tension can be felt in the crowd of hundreds of people as the final children (in soft helmets) ascend barefoot the structure of men and women. Unfortunately, on this day one of the castles actually fell just as they were beginning to descend. No one was hurt as there was a sufficient amount of people at the base to break the falls of the Castellars, though one man at the base was rushed to the waiting ambulance clutching his wrist.
As usual, the event finishes with the local group assembling a castle right in front of the balcony with the child at the top being pulled up onto the balcony via a very long scarf which all Castellars tie around their waists as a back brace. With the child’s ascension onto the balcony the festivities are concluded.
The results are true feats of ingenuity in human architecture. Though the teams are separate and typically from various parts of the country the sportsmanship displayed when other teams lend members to help brace the structures is a real testament to the communal spirit of the activities.
As a side note, I’m told that every two years they hold the national competition of Castellars in Spain. However, the best group in all of Spain has always refused their invitation on the grounds that Castelling is never meant to be a competition with sanctioned winners rather a cultural tradition.
After some tumultuous times in Barcelona it was time to simply take it easy. The rest of the days consisted of mellow wandering around the various neighborhoods. The sweaty heatstroke inducing ascent of the Olympic mountain where the 1992 diving competition was held as well as an old fort which now holds a military museum but provides an wide angle view of all of Barcelona and the Mediterranean.
Barcelona truly proved to be a surprise. Despite the undulating hype the town commands, ones love affair with the city consisted of the amazing people met .It was with whose interactions that the city proved a lively, colorful and often surreal backdrop. It had occurred to this wanderer that it was necessary to leave before the temptation to stay permanently sunk in. It was time to say goodbye to Sun, Sand, Café con leche, Gaudi, bottifara and Estrella and say hello to the wine and cheese swilling lady they call La France.
Fotki as usual @ dimakay.fotki.com
