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The tears of Santa Eulalia during the Mercè festivities

Written in 14/09/17 · Reading time: 3 minutes
The Mercy

The month of September in Barcelona is the month of La Mercè. The city's main festival arrives with its proclamation, concerts, Pyromusical... and its rains, almost as traditional as the festival itself. To a greater or lesser extent, there is no Mercè that isn't affected by summer downpours or by steady rain. This is normal, considering that astronomically it coincides with the arrival of autumn, the rainiest season of the Mediterranean climate.

La Merce Poster

According to a popular legend, the origin of these rains is caused by Saint Eulalia, who weeps inconsolably from the heavens, feeling overshadowed by the popularity of La Mercè as the patron saint of the city. A variant of this story suggests that the tears are not of sadness, but of spiteful anger intended to sabotage the festivities of her rival.

Setting aside the myth, it's important to highlight the fact that Barcelona does not have one patron saint, but two. The first was Saint Eulalia, a girl who supposedly lived between the 3rd and 4th centuries. Tradition has it that the young Eulalia went down to Roman Barcino from her native Sarrià to reproach the governor for the persecution of Christians. The punishment imposed by the imperial delegate for following a forbidden religion was to endure as many tortures as her age: 13. It seems that after suffering the last of the torments, the soul of the young Eulalia ascended to heaven through a white dove that emerged from her open mouth. Her remains were buried in the church of Santa María de las Arenas (now Santa María del Mar) and transferred, as relics of a saint, to the Barcelona Cathedral, from where they disappeared during one of the lootings that the temple endured during the Civil War.

Her name day is celebrated on February 12th. Although it is not a public holiday for work, Barcelona does not forget its first patron saint. The city buses display the flags of the city, the Urban Guard don their dress uniforms, and for a few years now, the City Council has been organizing the Winter Main Festival, which reaches its peak intensity with the Llum BCN, a festival that, according to its website, “blends tradition with new forms of expression that transform the city with the language of light”.

Well into the 17th century, Santa Eulàlia was the sole “protector” of the city. However, a locust plague in 1687 ended the young martyr's monopoly: the Council of One Hundred turned to the Virgin of Mercy, to whom they promised patronage of the city if she freed them from that misfortune. The devotion to this virgin began in the 13th century, following a dream of King James I, which led to the creation of the Order of Mercy. The plague passed by and the Council kept its promise. Although it took two centuries, in 1868 Pope Pius IX confirmed it. Her feast is celebrated on September 24th. Being a public holiday, the memory in the collective imagination of the city is stronger than that of Santa Eulàlia, since around that day the City Council organizes its Main Festival, for all the neighborhoods and districts of Barcelona.

Just in case, if during this edition of La Mercè you see that the rain makes an appearance again, look up to the sky and promise Santa Eulàlia that you will also attend her main festival. Barcelona is very big, and there's room for everyone. That includes its two patron saints.

La Mercè Festival

Fire-run during the Mercè Festival (c) Somewhere in the world today.