It’s called Correfoc. It is a popular Catalan tradition consisting of “a parade of infernal characters that chase people with fireworks“. It was one of the wildest events we attended during Barcelona’s La Mercé festival.

Diables and Bestiari, adults and children dressed as devils or wearing monster contraptions, light firecrackers and sparklers and send shooting sparks careening into the parade watchers on Barcelona’s fashionable avenue, the Passeig de Gracia.

Teams of drummers accompany the semi-controlled mayhem.

In the evening all the devils and monsters go into the Porta de l’Infern, Hell’s Gate, erected in a northern corner of the Passeig. After a massive fireworks display, the devils come out of the Porta de l’Infern again and dance back south down the avenue, shooting swirling waves of bursting sparks along the way.

Porta de L’Infern – Hell’s Gate

The Fireworks!

The Return of the Diables!