Origins of La Mercé
The festival pays celebrates the patron saint of Barcelona, the Virgin of La Mercé. A series of miracles are linked to the city are attributed to her.
Supposedly, on September 24, 1218, the Virgin of Mercé appeared simultaneously to King Jaime I, Saint Pedro Nolasco, and Saint Raimundo de Peñafort. In this apparition, the Virgin asked that they create a religious order to rescue the Christian hostages in the Holly Lands.
The next miracle came in 1687 when Barcelona was attacked by a plague of locusts. The people of Barcelona begged the Virgen de la Merced for her assistance. When the plague ended, it was believed that it was La Mercé that vanished the locusts, and therefore she was proclaimed patron of the diocese.
In 1868, Pope Pius IX declared La Mercé the patron saint of the city of Barcelona. That year, the city began to celebrate religious and popular festivals in honor of the Virgin of Mercy on September 24.
But it wasn’t until 1902 that the festival gained the popularity it enjoys today. That year there was an unprecedented number of parades, the appearance of the famous Giants from all over Catalonia, the first contest of castells was held and the popularization of the Sardana.
The festivities of La Merced as we know them today were born during the Spanish democratic transition when the Barcelona City Council decided to totally transform the city’s main festival into a celebration in which popular culture and citizenship took over the streets.