Barcelona - Land of the Giants!
February 1st, 2007I just saw the last post about Castells in Barcelona, and it reminds of another strange and impressive tradition – The Giants (Gigantes)!
The giants are huge papier-mâché statues carried through the streets on someone’s shoulders (someone with very strong shoulders!!) They are used in major festivals throughout Spain (of course in my opinion the Barcelona Giants are the best!!!) People gather round to watch the procession and to see the giants dance, which is no mean feat, bearing in mind how much they can weigh!
The first time I saw the ‘Desfile de los Gigantes’ (parade of the giants), was at the Barcelona Mercé festival, which takes place every September, but the giants do appear at many other annual events.
A friend of mine is part of one of the teams who construct the huge figures (they compete to see who can make the most impressive giant) and he thought it would be a good idea for me to try to carry the giant, assuring me that there is really nothing to it.
I proceeded to disappear underneath the giant (a princess with crown and long flowing dress) and, as instructed by the 10 or so team members watching me, I stood up, lifting the giant - at least I thought I was lifting it. The thing is, I’m not a particularly strong person, I don’t have much coordination and I don’t have a lot of practise carrying 15 foot statues on my head, so I suppose it was asking for trouble.
I starting to lean forward with the weight and the giant fell too, almost hitting the king giant standing in front and various horrified onlookers. All ended well, the giant was caught and no-one was squashed, but I have learnt my lesson and will make sure that I enjoy this tradition from the sidelines in the future and let the professionals do the work!!
/Janine
This entry was posted on Thursday, February 1st, 2007 at 2:24 pm and is filed under Festivities, General Barcelona, Other, Things to do. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
February 7th, 2007 at 12:18 pm
Hey! Dont miss the giants in Plaza Real this Sunday at 10 am! It is because of the Fiestas de Santa Eulalia! There will be many things in the city center happening because of the Fiestas, like ‘Correfoc’ or ‘Castellers’. You can check the whole programme in http://www.bcn.cat/santaeulalia/
Anna