Minka Guides

The plan was to have a sunset picnic at Barcelona's iconic municipal garden, Park Güell. Full of cava and the romance of dusk, we rolled down the hill to the district nestled at the base of the park, Gràcia, which was once a separate village outside of Barcelona until the city grew out and swallowed it. As we wandered down into its streets we were suddenly bombarded with an array of colourful decorations. Almost every street we turned into had its own explosion of handcrafted ornaments and lights, hanging from netting stretched between the buildings. Having just come from the psychedelically designed Park Güell, this strange and wonderful experience felt like we had fallen further down the rabbit hole. As we happened upon Plaza Virreina, the square was alive with music and all kinds of people milling everywhere. Street vendor signs were dotted about exclaiming “mojitos €4” and whilst buying myself one, the bartender informed me we had stumbled upon Festes de Gràcia, a riotous week-long festival that happens every August.

Taking our drinks with us, we followed the stream of people moving from street to street, square to square, marvelling at the vibrant energy of the district. Hearing the familiar sound of a samba band approaching, we only had moments to jump onto a park bench as it met us at corner, nearly swallowing us whole with the cacophony of over 30 people beating drums. Wandering down another alleyway, we found ourselves suddenly in the middle of a fireworks fight. Teenagers were appearing out of nowhere, with hair and clothing of that distinctive Spanarchist style, throwing lit fireworks at each other, which would explode and bounce of the walls around us. Terrified, my partner and I gripped each other tightly in a doorway as rockets screamed past us, and I started to wonder if we’d accidentally stumbled into a warzone. As the jubilant fight paraded out of our alleyway and into another, we bolted in the opposite direction. Up another, quieter street we happened upon a street bar where topless women were serving beer under a sign announcing that they were the “Catalan Gay Liberation Front”.

Buzzing from our crazy night, my partner and I laughed about how our plans for a romantic sunset picnic had turned into the ultimate block party adventure. Yet, I had the feeling that this was just another summer’s night in Barcelona.