“Vaig aprendre que fins i tot en les situacions més terribles s’ha de celebrar, compartir el goig d’estar vius amb els altres.” — Najat El Hachmi

(“I learned that even in the most terrible situations we must celebrate, to share the wonder of being alive with others.”)

The Catalan author Najat El Hachmi commenced Barcelona’s annual festival of La Mercè from the city hall’s Saló de Cent room, with words of resilience and compassion through tough times that needn’t apply to only Catalans. The three-day September festival of La Mercè, named after the city’s 17th-century patron saint, the Virgin of Mercy, has officially been celebrated since 1871 and trumpets the proud Catalan community’s cultural creativity, diversity and history. Returning for the first time since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, La Mercè 2023 resurfaced with a new wave of uncertainty as war continues in Eastern Europe, natural disasters prove catastrophic in Northern Africa and the memories of Catalonia’s unsuccessful 2017 independence referendum linger in the zeitgeist of Barcelona. Looking these turbulent situations straight in the face, 1 million people poured into the streets to parade their culture for the world to see.

Having the good fortune to walk in step with the Catalans as a student reporter studying political science here abroad in Barcelona, I share with you a firsthand account of the wonders of La Mercè!