Diables in Catalonia
A Correfoc (Run fire!) is very important act in the Festes Majors of Catalonia. Basically, it is a walk through some of the town streets, carrying hundreds of sparklers that spin on the top of long spears, producing thousands of sparks that fall as a rain of fire.
Dance of the Devils
The Diables are the people who take part on them, the ones who dance under the fire with the company of all kind of dragons and fantastic creatures made of papier mâché. A special paint protects the dragons, but what does protect the devils? Well, Correfocs are opened to everyone (if you are in a Festa Major and you find a Correfoc you can put yourself under the fire at you own risk), but it is convenient to wear thick clothes made of cotton, a big hat, and a handkerchief for covering your face.
Catalan Devil
The first reference that we have of a diables group dates from 1150, in Barcelona, during the wedding banquet between Ramon Berenguer IV and Peronella of Aragon. The second one appears three centuries later, in 1423, also in Barcelona during the return of the king Alfons IV the Magnanimous. The first use of pyrotechnics dates from 1437, in Tarragona.
From that dates, devils got extended all along the Catalan Principality, specially in the area of Tarragona, Penedès-Garraf and Priorat. Only during the Franco regime this movement decreased, because of the prohibition of every manifestation of the catalan culture. Nowadays it has been completely restored, and there are hundreds of colles or groups of diables performing Correfocs in every Festa Major.
Diables in Granollers
20 years ago in Granollers, la colla dels Blaus created the first Diables group in the town. Today, the Correfoc followed by the Correaigua (Run water!) are two of the most popular activities of our Festa Major.
