The story
La Merce Festival in Barcelona
Barcelona's late-September festival honoring the city's patron saint, filled with Catalan traditions including castellers building human towers, correfoc fire-runners in devil costumes showering sparks through the streets, and giant gegants figures parading with smaller capgrossos. Free concerts, an air show, and citywide fireworks round out one of Spain's most comprehensive urban festivals.
La Merce, held each September around the 24th in honor of Barcelona's patron saint, the Virgin of Mercy, fills the city with the full range of Catalan folk tradition, including castellers building human towers several stories high in coordinated competitions, correfoc fire-runners parading through streets with sparking devil costumes and fireworks, and gegants, giant papier-mache and fiberglass figures representing historical and folkloric characters, parading alongside smaller capgrossos big-headed figures.