So it’s Sant Jordi again – the year has turned full cycle since the last time when the streets of Granollers were filled with stalls selling red roses and books. By the afternoon the sun had broken through the clouds and so we didn’t have to walk under umbrellas or worry about the rain spoiling the whole event.
This year is a little strange as Sant Jordi is the day before Easter. I wonder how often that happens? Or if it ever falls on Easter Sunday?
There were all the stalls selling books in the Porxada and surrounding streets. This year I woke up to the fact that most places had exactly the same books – hardbacks especially published to coincide with this day. So it was hard to find the right book – for the right price. The Catalan version of the one we wanted was 21 euros. I wonder why books are so much cheaper in the UK?
Then we looked at the roses – 5 euros each and all wrapped in what seemed identical plastic covers. They looked nice but I did begin to wonder why some enterprising seller doesn’t start to do it in a different way? Perhaps with a pretty paper wrapping?
We had our usual conversation about the commercialism of most of the main festes here and I do begin to see what he means. Everything ends up being marketed and sold at an inflated price and without much creative imagination. Oh dear – I am feeling a bit jaded perhaps.
The sardanes in front of the Ajuntament were good to watch and I even saw a couple of young men – 17 years old? – dancing with spiky hair and smiley faces. The average age of dancers is around 65 I would say. The music lets you know when to raise and drop the arms! Everyone does little tiny pointy steps without moving very far and then suddenly it all gets faster – but still tiny – and then it slows down. It’s very subtle and because it was banned during times of repression of Catalan culture it is full of more emotion and significance than is obvious on the surface. Something further away from a flamenco you cannot imagine!
The shops are full of Mones de Pasqua – the cakes that are traditionally eaten on Easter Monday and which symbolise the end of the abstinence of Lent
On the way home we got some take-away orxata – the drink that when I first tasted it in Barcelona seemed like nectar from heaven. By this time the clouds were returning and it was too chilly to drink it on the street.
Where we are, most of the stands are for a local charity, or club and the cost is usually 2 Euros for a flower…the schools all hold a stand, the two local ‘NGO’s a couple of political parties, the scouts….so it doesn’t feel that commercial. A bunch of youngest’s friends even got a stand together and sold bracelets they had made.
Did you see any of the roses that are made from paper and other nifty crafty types? One of the schools here was selling roses made from the nespresso packs..you know those little foil cups? Looked nice too.
One of the NGO types had a book trade too, take one – leave one which was nice as well.
Not always so commercial anyway.
I guess books are cheaper in the UK because they don’t need to be translated? -no idea actually- I miss this holiday! St Valentine’s day is not even close to being as nice as Sant Jordi is!
I like Sant Jordi very much – I haven’t been here long enough to feel jaded by it but every year we have this conversation about all the poor roses and the costs and the commercialism. It sounds like next year we need to come to a smaller place – like your town Oreneta – and enjoy an atmosphere which is more local and less standardised. I’d like to see it in Barcelona too.
My first rose and book came from two Barcelona friends who sent me a dried flower and a Catalan dictionary to my home in Cornwall. They promised me that one day I would be here to enjoy it all in person. and here I am!! K x
I know what you mean about the books and roses. We didn’t get a book this year, and I only bought a potted geranium because it was for cancer, but last year we did buy a book – at great expense, and it was only small! I don’t think books are expensive because they’re translated, as there are many authors for sale in the UK that have been translated and they’re no more expensive. But almost everything costs more here… oh, don’t get me started on that!
Hi Jan Yes I agree that most things seem more expensive here. Perhaps it is the UK that is cheap and people now go there to shop like we used to come to SPain? I think we should start a competition to see if anyone can find some thing that is cheaper here than in the UK. not counting petrol and cigarettes of course!!!
K x
I’ll never forget Joan Manuel Serrat’s first album, which is entirely in Catalan. One song “Els vels amants” mentions the roses:
I per Sant Jordi ell li compra una rosa, embolicada amb paper de plata
and this is how the roses were still presented in Barcelona when I was there fifteen years ago. By this measure, what you have today in Granollers is not the old way