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Europe Destination Guide (TravelNow)
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The events of “La Merced” begin
rather innocently, with the passing from
time to time of a group of somewhat
seductively but well costumed dancers,
female devils, safely
encapsulated in obviously Star-War proof
bubbles. All afternoon, the early
evening's musical entertainment and
Catalunian folk dancing shows have been
taking place, in the many plazas of the
old city, and from time to time the
female devils arrive.
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As
darkness descends, the once
occasional explosions of
fireworks in the distance become
more frequent and as night
arrives, the expectations of the
crowd are noticeably rising. |
The
tranquility of the afternoon, spent
leisurely having a few snacks and glasses
of wine in the many sidewalk cafes, is
suddenly broken by a few fireworks.
The occasional distant explosions
increase as the evening progresses, when
suddenly they are harshly broken by a
rapidly rising crescendo of the ever-approaching fireworks, with accompanying
flashes of light that soon become what
must be reminiscent of Napoleon's battle
at Waterloo.
As you quickly try to pay the bill and
get over to see what is going on, loud
bangs begin echoing between the castle
walls, and blinding flashes of light
reflect around the plaza. The
acrid smell of burnt sulfur and gunpowder
signal the advance of something that ....
could only live in hell? The air flashes
of light and sparks as your visual senses
are overloaded with what becomes an incessant
invasion of monstrous dragons raging fire
from their nostrils and demons exploding
fireworks from their mouths in all
directions as they spiral around in the
plaza.
Not one, many monster demons
enter from the street and each is
followed by his own army of damned souls,
all running, screaming, drumbeating,
subservient devils numbering in hundreds,
thousands or maybe, or at least what
seemed to be, hundreds of thousands.
These
devils are not content to simply follow
their demon masters in an orderly
procession of banishment from the old
city. They are on one last hell-bent
mission to terrorize the innocents
and instill everlasting fear in all those
that only wished to peacefully observe
their orderly and controlled exodus from
the city.
These
devils intend to make the most of their
last appearance in Barcelona and
won't stop raining their fire on the
crowds until they are sure that everyone
will remember their evil powers and that
they may have lost the battle, but not
the war. Terror on the now fleeing crowds
ahead and especially on the previously
unsuspecting tourists that haphazardly
strayed into the plaza to find out what
all the excitement was about.it is now
more than obvious. All that are
in the way of the devil's path are
cowering from the hot sparks spewing into
the air, covering their hair and anything
else they think might readily catch fire,
while they try to avoid the explosions at
the demon's feet. Those in the wake of
the advancing army with their flashing
wands, form tiny shadows in the fiery
glow of the circles of tracers and
sparks, disappearing into the smoke as
the marching army of a thousand devils
trail behind. For those foolish
enough to be caught in the devil's
attack, the firecracker bombs exploding
from the trailing army are unbearable and
echo between the ears of anyone
overeagerly venturing in too close, for
that one chance of a memorable
photograph which will prove that they
valiantly braved the mayhem of hell and
lived to tell about it. Unfortunately,
the fear on their face is also evident as
they make a hasty retreat from their last
vantage point, which has been overcome
with sulfurous fire and smoke, and run to
anywhere that looks like it may offer a
safe haven. The feverish level of
terror grows in the surrounding crowd as
the devils scream their merciless cries
and threats to the rhythm of drumbeats
in the night air.
After many hours of the incessant
wailing, drums and explosions, finally,
the last of the devils are forced to flee
in advance of the saints; their
ultimate exodus from the center of the
city, as they are once and for all
banished from the remnants of the old
castle walls... until next year.
Don't miss it. Around the 3rd
weekend in September.
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