Sant Joan's Eve Cocas and Fireworks

One more year Catalonia and its capital Barcelona celebrate the arrival of summer with this traditional festivity known as Revetlla de Sant Joan /Verbena de San Juan / Saint John's Eve.

Sant Joan is a moment to share with family and friends and who made the first bonfire is certainly unknown since all the summer welcoming celebrations of history occurred once in a long gone night of mankind when it was time to thank the gods, make a toast for past victories, blessing crops and guarantee a better future. The longest day of the year, the solstice seems to be the perfect occasion to rejoice from dusk to dawn drinking and eating in the most pagan ways. Fortunately there is no need to sacrifice animals or virgins anymore.

Of course in spite of the 'tribal rituals' of the night there is also the feast that commemorates Saint John The Baptist's birth that no one seems to remember anymore. The fact is that bonfires made of bones and wood, something rather hard to find in Barcelona nowadays, are called St John's Fire and that was perfect to repel witches in the past, who knows if even today!

The bonfires can be seen along the Catalan geography by the thousands especially at the beach (a celebration that this year 2019 generated 20 tons of crap on the capital's waterfront)

Those who prefer to celebrate at home or on the city streets, limit themselves to fireworks of all sorts like the one on top that, as somebody suggested to me at the Barcelona Reddit, looks like one of Dr. Strange's portals.

The stars of the night are the famous Cocas de Sant Joan which are of different kinds according to the ingredients. Here is a Coca made of brioche, candied fruit, pine nut and cream filling.

Here is another Coca de Sant Joan known as Coca de Llardons, a flat pastry cake made with eggs, sugar, pork crackling (llardons) and pine nuts. What if you try a Coca de Llardons recipe?

Do not forget some nice Catalan cava as the perfect dressing of a memorable evening!

Candied Fruit Pastry or Coca de Sant Joan

This is what is known as coca de Sant Joan, a traditional light sweetbread covered with candied fruit. As the name suggests, it is a kind of pastry to be consumed during Saint John celebrations when it is sold in huge amounts and as you can guess there are the cheap and the expensive ones. They can be tasty and spongy or an authentic hard rock. The cheapest you buy at the supermarket but if you want the best stuff then you'd better go to your favorite pastry shop. Besides the candied fruit "coca", there are other kinds, like coca de crema (cream filled pastry - this is the one I like the most), coca de llardons (suet pastry)...to have a better idea learn about cocas de San Juan. Maybe you prefer the recipe: Candied Fruit and Pinenuts Cocas.

Sant Joan Firecrackers: Launching Gadget Closeup

The word petardo in Spanish or petard in Catalan has different meanings: banger, firecracker, that is, a small explosive device. Not only that, it can be someone or something that's boring. Sometimes it can be a fraud but the most curious entries are "a hag, an old hag" what we know as a petarda and a joint, you know, the smoking kind. My intention today was to show not only firecrackers but the gadgets some people use to launch the artifacts. Many are completely handmade and others can be bought in stores. By the way, firecrackers are sold at special stalls which are regulated by city authorities. Normally they are located in the middle of a square with some fences all around and only two clients can be in front of the counter at the same time. Apart from that, you can also find specialized shops and major dealers for professional purposes.

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Sant Joan's Eve Firecrackers

Bonfires of Saint John (Fogueres de Sant Joan in Catalan) aka Nit de Sant Joan or Revetlle de Sant Joan on June 23rd is time for firecrackers (petardos), cocas (a sort of pastry) and cava which is in other words the Catalan version of champaign. If you follow the above link you will find out that this event intended to welcome the arrival of summer is not exclusively ours although we celebrate it perhaps more intensely than in other places. It must be said that bonfires are not as popular now as in the past when people used to take old furniture into the middle of the street to watch it burn and party all around. Now you have to go to the beach where the city council still allows bonfires and massive celebrations. The mess is so big that special brigades of garbage collectors have to be organized to clean up the sand from all sorts of bottles, shoes, and assorted crap. Most of us avoid these mega parties and gather with family and friends to eat and drink till late in the evening. All night long before and after supper we find some place in the garden or go to the nearest square to ignite firecrackers. In spite of all this you can hear firecrackers big and small, during the whole month of June. The one in the picture was a turning wheel not particularly dangerous. Some others are scaring just like the sort of big tube a friend of us tied up to a pole. The artifact got twisted upon burning and sent "shrapnel" against the big bucket where we had the beers on ice, piercing through it and leaving a big hole that emptied the whole thing in seconds.

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Sant Joan's Eve Firecracker Armageddon

Sant Joan's Eve is not the best day for people with sleeping disorders. Unless you live far from civilization or up in the top floor of a tall building, you will find it hard to get a good sound sleep in Barcelona. As you know this celebration is about partaking with friends in the open at night fully armed with all the pyrotechnic gadgets you could afford to buy in the authorized stalls spread all over the city (they are on sale long before the day arrives). Firecrackers who had initially been heard during previous weeks, suddenly increase the number of decibels, dogs go mad, people get drunker than average, kids go to bed later than ever and the night becomes day, or better said hell on earth. The following morning as you can expect it is as quiet as a post nuclear scenario with just one exception, the constant swearing of the garbage men.