FESTIVAL OF SANT JOAN 23-24 June

Celebrate the start of summer in Barcelona with the festivities of Sant Joan!

This is a traditional festival in Spain to mark the longest day of the year and the beginning of the summer season. There are 3 symbols of Sant Joan: fire, water and herbs.

-Fire symbolises purity and so you may see bonfires lit around the city.

-Water symbolises healing so some people decide to bathe in the sea.

-Herbs symbolise remedy and some say that their healing qualities are increased 100 times over on the night of Sant Joan.

However, the main event of the night of Sant Joan is the fire aspcet. In Catalan the evening is called ´Nit del Foc´- Night of Fire. There are huge firework celebrations accross the city. A lot of people chose to watch the displays from the beach  where there is a great atmosphere with food, drinks and music.

The typical food of the festival is called the ´Coque´. These are bread cakes with an aniseed flavour which you will see in the bakeries accross the city. They can be sweet containting fruits, nuts and seeds or savoury with crackling or pine nuts.