I saw this couple walking down the street – hand in hand – sometimes pausing and talking intensely. They looked somewhere between 70 and 80. And I loved their shoes!

August is the month when lots of people go on holiday. Shops close, businesses work shorter hours, the streets are quieter and the beaches are busy. It is also the time for street parties and most towns and neighbourhoods in the bigger cities have grand fiestas called Festes Majors.
In Barcelona my favourite one is in Gracia where the streets are decorated each in their individual style and there is a competition for the best oneI didn’t make it this year but went four times last August and saw concerts, danced in the streets, milled around with thousands of others and enjoyed the creativity. The Festa Major in Barceloneta is also very lively and takes place at the end of September, often coinciding with TangonetaGranollers starts its Festa Major on the last Thursday of August although the preparations begin earlier in the week. It is called the Festa Major de Blancs i Blaus (whites and blues) and has this theme of different teams which are in competition with each other. The idea is recent (1983) and based on an old rivalry between brickmakers to see who could make the most bricks in an hour. But Festes Majors in Granollers date back much further than this and originally it was a festival to celebrate the patron saint of the town. In Granollers this Sant Esteve and his saint day is Boxing Day so this fiesta was known as the Festa Major d’Hivern (winter) and was celebrated with a traditional fire. But the various neighbourhoods had their summer fiestas and for example where I live they had a festival to celebrate Sants Metzes – the saints of the doctors and it was a very local party with dances and dinners and some performances.
The Festa in Granollers went into decline during the years after the Civil War and before the death of Franco. After democracy the Festa returned with new energy and plans but it wasn’t until 1983 that the idea of Blues and Whites took shape, originating from the local town council.
Now everywhere you go there are people wearing either blue or white tee-shirtsThere are bars set up in the plaças which raise money for each group. The programme of events include live music, dancing, concerts, childrens activities, Fire and Water spectacles, castles made of people climbing on each others shoulders and lots more.
So….the party is about to begin and tonight I walked down to a nearby square to watch a Bollywood dance workshop. It was warm, people milling around with children and dogs and all the family. The summer holidays are almost over but this is an extension of the holiday mood. I thought about Blues and Whites and wondered why this idea of a rivalry doesn’t really excite me and there is something a little contrived about the concept but many people seem to feel differently and join in. I began to notice how much street furniture is a combination of these colours.At night we took a walk through the centre and came upon this monster in a dark alley – I imagine you can guess what it is!