SAINT GEORGE’S DAY - BARCELONA STYLE
"The patron saint of England is Saint George and his feast day is celebrated on April 23rd. On this day his standard flies from public buildings and a few patriotic souls wear a red rose and that, by and large, is it. The words lack-lustre and luke-warm spring to mind. The patron saint of Catalonia (or Catalunya if one is being correct) is also Saint George, but the celebrations there are in a completely different league!
Last Saint George’s Day I was fortunate to be
in Barcelona, the capital of the "kingdom" 
of Catalonia now a district
of Northern Spain. The Catalans are an extremely independent race. They speak
their own language (Catalan) and they will tell you in no uncertain terms that
"Catalunya is not part of Spain" .They are intensely proud of their
heritage and part of that heritage is their patron saint, Saint George.
We were staying in an apartment close to Gaudi’s unfinished cathedral, the Temple of the Sagrada Familia. We came out in the morning at about nine o’clock into a street decorated with bunting and the Catalan flags of red and gold and bearing an image of Saint George. They flew from buildings and street lamps and hung from balconies. In fact, wherever it was possible to fly a flag, there was one or more of them flying. Even the buses sported them, attached to the front windows. On every street corner and at the entrance to the metro stations, red roses were on sale wrapped in cellophane with
an ear of corn and tied with gold and red striped ribbons. It is the custom for every lady in the city to receive a red rose in memory of the saint (the red rose being his emblem). On our doorstep was a group of young medical students selling their red roses to raise funds for the Medical School.We descended the steps into the Metro Station to take the train to the centre of the city. As it was a public holiday we expected the populace to be relaxing at home at this time of the morning. Not so! the station was thronged with people, dressed in their Sunday best all making their way to the same destination - the Plaza de Saint Jaume (St James’ Square). This is the heart of old Barcelona and here in the Middle Ages were built two palaces. One is the seat of government of the city (the Town Hall) and the other is the seat of the institution of autonomous government, the Palace of the Generalitat de Catalunya dedicated to Saint George -naturally.. This building is only open to the public on Saint George’s Day. We thought, therefore, that this would be a unique opportunity for us to visit one of the most impressive palaces of the city. On arrival in the square, it seemed to us that the whole of Barcelona had come out to celebrate. A great seething mass of humanity in holiday mood flowed around the building. The square was filled from corner to corner with happy people enjoying the sunshine, meeting their friends, laughing and singing - a real air of fiesta.. There was no chance of us getting into the Palace, the queue went completely around the building so we moved on, into the Plaza de la Seu, the small square outside the magnificent Gothic cathedral. One could hardly move here. On a huge stage at the bottom of the Cathedral steps, a band was playing and a good number of the populace were dancing the "sardanas" - the national dance which is danced on a regular basis here as a statement of Catalonia’s independence.
We had given up our idea of visiting the palace by now so we edged past other statues of Saint George and made our way to Barcelona’s concert hall, the Palau de Musica. Here it was somewhat quieter and there was room to move. The term concert hall does not do this building justice - it is more of a cathedral to music. Designed in 1908, it is considered by many to be the crowning point of Modernist style. It is an incredible building almost defying description - sufficient to say that here once again can be found roses in abundance and yet another magnificent sculpture of Saint George.
Our next intention had been to stroll down La
Rambla and take in the atmosphere. This is a wide avenue, lined with shady lime
trees, and filled with open-air cafes, terraces, cinemas and art galleries. It
is along La Rambla de Catalunya the citizens of Barcelona stroll. It is also
famous for its flower, caged bird and book stalls. Saint George’s Day is very
good for business for the book sellers. The other side of the custom of ladies
receiving red roses from their menfolk is that the men receive books from their
ladies. The origin of this Saint George’s Day custom, we were informed, is
that on Saint George’s Day in 1616 our own William Shakespeare and Spain’s
Miguel de Cervantes died. I felt that it was very considerate of the Catalans to
include our Bard in their celebrations.
In the evening we went out to dine in one of Barcelona’s popular restaurants. All around us sat couples of all ages, the ladies with their roses, the gentlemen with their books. It was Saint George and Saint Valentine rolled into one. On the way home at midnight, they were still selling roses by the metro steps (although the medical students had long since gone home). The next day we saw girls and men on their way to work still carrying their roses and books and there were still some Catalan flags flying.
It occurred to me that the good citizens of Barcelona would be horrified to see how little we celebrate our mutual patron saint. It’s a pity we don’t make more of April 23rd - I really enjoyed Saint George’s Day - Barcelona style!
Barbara Hothersall