Barcelona
tours: Fiesta de Gracia, the definitive Barcelona Festival
This is our Barcelona Tours section. Here you can take a virtual photographic
tour of Barcelona, enjoy the Barcelona pictures and learn about an interesting
aspect of the city or the region of Catalonia. We will spotlight a new
Barcelona tour each month, so be sure to visit often.
Contact us to book your private
tour of Barcelona and to live your own, very personal Barcelona Experience!
Visit the previous Barcelona Tour page: the gothic church of Santa
Maria del Mar
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A crowd walks under a canopy of umbrellas, softly glowing Chinese lanterns
and brightly wrapped packages.
This young woman attends to her "mojitos": a refreshing Cuban
cocktail made with rum, fresh mint, sugar and tonic water.
This street’s theme was sweet dreams. Residents used flexible
tubing and soft lighting to produce this relaxing effect.
A giant moray eel leaps out from its hiding place amongst the rocks.
One of the many unique scenes to enjoy during this Barcelona festival.
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Images and Text by Gaston
Magrinat. Click on any image for a larger version.
Each year every barrio of Barcelona puts on a street festival, the
most splendid, extravagant and diverse of which is the Fiesta Major
de Gràcia. During the third week of August the streets of this
neighborhood come alive with decorations, live music and a wide range
of activities designed to make the most of the lazy summer days and
the warm nights.
The residents of each street meet to decide upon a decorative theme
in the pursuit of the elusive honorary first prize. The work begins
in early August and you can watch the transformation taking place as
the locals work night and day to be ready for the start of the festivities.
The decorations are not the only stars in the week-long festival.
The many plazas of Gràcia host an exciting variety of bands that
play late into the night. Almost every corner has its street vendors
selling cold beer, refreshing sangria, “mojitos”, “bocadillos”
(crusty Spanish sandwiches with a wide range of ingredients, but usually
with some sort of ham or chorizo) as well as other tasty treats. But
the real protagonists are surely the people of Gràcia. It seems
as though the entire barrio have left their apartments to inhabit the
streets below their balconies. Wide-eyed children playing, groups of
senior citizens enjoying a game of bingo, sitting at long tables in
the center of the street under the canopy of decorations: people eating,
drinking, strolling, dancing, or simply taking it all in. It is truly
a sight worth seeing and one of the unique experiences to be had in
Barcelona.
The festivities are a creative and exuberant event for young and old
alike. There is something for everyone, but most of all there is an
abundance of good old-fashioned fun, high spirits, and a wide range
of activities to choose from.
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The first-prize winning street chose an underwater theme. Squid, octopus
and sharks swim freely in this fantastic ocean.
A street vendor cooks up some local treats. Sausages and Spanish chorizo
sizzle on the grill before becoming a tasty bocata.
These neighbors enjoy an open night of bingo under a sky of drifting
clouds.
Bands play into the early hours on open-air stages in the many plazas
of Gràcia
This street, with its skydivers and hot air balloons, won second place.
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