Dad Visits!

I was really lucky to have my dad come visit this week. His visit also coincides with la Merce, Barcelona's most famous festival. According to legend (and if I'm translating Catalan correctly), the virgin appeared to Jaume I, Sant Pere Nolasc, i Sant Ramon de Penyafort asking them to create an order of monks to save imprisoned Christians by Sarraïns. Then later in 1687, Barcelona had a terrible locust plague and was on the verge of overall collapse and decay when they put their hope and salvation to la Mare de Déu de la Mercè (the virgin). When the plague cleared they declared her the copatron saint of Barcelona. The tradition of festival that is used today was first started in 1902, but as civil war and then Franco opression of Catalunya culture took hold, it has really only grown since the recent democracy. The pictures of the fire is part of Correfoc a long tradition, and there are fireworks and parades for a week and a half.

This year there was an accident where a mother and her 11-year-old were killed in Merce Traffic, so there was also a very sad and somber aspect to the festivals from Wednesday on. There were lots of moments of silence and some of the events were canceled. However the main parts still continued and Dad and I got to see some really great concerts.

I had a really great time with my dad visiting, we went to a ton of museums, restaurants, festivals, and got to actually spend a lot of great time together. I can't wait until both him and my mom visit in the spring.

To see more info and professional photos of La Merce this site has good resources:
http://www.bcn.cat/merce/en/sobre-merce.shtml

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