La Mercè

I had been wondering what kind of cultural imagination it takes to let a manic genius like Gaudi loose in a city. I don't have many pictures of Gaudi structures for you yet. But they are striking. They twine like vines. They drip. They curl in upon themselves and then splay out quickly in knots and streaks. They yawn open, they hover over you, they coil for a spring.

In La Mercè, Barcelona's biggest annual festival, I am starting to find an answer. This culture faces fear head-on. Or, at least, this culture honors rituals of facing fear.
I guess I already had some clues: the bull-fights--a man alone in a ring with a bull. Or the "running of the bulls" in Pamplona and elsewhere, where men test fate running in the street with packs of the beasts.

Barcelona frowns on the bull traditions these days, but carries on danger rituals of its own. Such as the "Carrefoc," an exuberant, dramatic fire parade in which people dance in the streets costumed from head to toe in devil kit, or otherwise wrapped against the fire, to the sound of drum beats and exploding firecrackers.

I kept creeping to the front lines, then losing my nerve and jumping and running with the crowd when the firecrackers exploded and fire started raining down from everywhere. I caught some fire on my hands bringing you this picture. Ouch.

It's all great terrifying fun, and there's certainly something cathartic about running into fire. But I've been puzzling at how dark the Carrefoc is. After all, the name of this festival means "mercy." The legend goes that the citizens prayed to St. Mercè to save them from a plague of locusts. The locusts disappeared and Mercè became the patron saint of the city. So why celebrate with drums, fire, devils, dragons, dark fantastical creatures? I don't really know. Any ideas?
Today I encountered a different sort of confrontation with fear, watching the castellers make human towers.

The ideal is nine levels, I've been told. The castellers are progressively smaller, of course, and the top couple are little kids. One group had a tiny little kid who looked like no more than 4 years old. They shimmy up the backs of the rest to the top of the stack, throw up an arm, then quickly slide down. The kids wear helmets, but a couple of years ago one died falling from the top (shiver). I actually saw a couple bomb to the ground, but I think they were okay. The crowd is so thick.
This red group had trouble. I never saw them make a perfect castle. The second time they tried they got up to about 7 levels before the whole structure started shaking, with the crowd gasping in sympathy. Then, suddenly, they all collapsed, like so.

All this is just a sliver of La Mercè. There are also dozens of bands, street performers, hot air balloons, sky fireworks, kite shows, a swim in the harbor, a city run, a bicycle parade, booths for used book sellers and public interest organizations, dances, street games, horse cavalcades; all the museums are open for free, the metro runs 24/7, and the rest of the city is closed. It's quite an event. But that's it for me; I'm out of energy and going back to bed to nurse this cold.