To enhance and add sentimentality to Barcelona’s celebration of the Mercè festivities in 1902, the first competition of giants was announced.
Immediately, a precision was added that was very welcome: not only giants, but also almost everything else, namely dwarves, dragons, eagles and the miscellaneous accompaniment, which was synonymous, of an et cetera . So, all pleased and without exclusions.
Representatives from Lleida, Sitges, la Bisbal, Igualada, Manresa, Berga, Tàrrega and Badalona appeared in this competition. For the first contest, it wasn’t too bad.
It deserves to be recorded that one of the three people who made up the jury was Josep Puig i Cadafalch. The architect was included due to his status as a councilor linked to the League of Francesc Cambó. The latter had proclaimed, as soon as he entered the municipal Consistory, his desire to enhance the festivity of La Mercè not only as the patron saint of Barcelona, ??but also to turn it into a true Festa Major of the whole of Catalonia.
The gathering point for all the participants was the Ciutadella Machine Gallery, one of the buildings exempted from the Universal Exhibition of 1888. The park was flooded with eager people wanting to have a good time. The music of those accompanying the parade of registrants contributed to increasing the tone of the revelry. The crowd and the participants marched towards Plaça de Sant Jaume, which could not accommodate so many people.
The first prize was awarded to Patum de Berga: gold medal and a thousand pesetas. There were awards for everyone, although of a smaller amount.
Barcelona’s very ancient giant tradition had suffered from not favorable periods.
Like the prohibition ordered by Charles III to take part in processions, which remained in force from 1771 until Captain General Duke of Lancaster abolished it in 1798. Its reappearance inspired the tune it evoked: the giant of the city ??dances on the roof. He could not be referring to the simple roof: he was referring to that of the Rambla, so called because it was an excellent stretch due to its elevation framed by a balustrade.
The ban was repeated during the Napoleonic occupation, when the street was subject to rigorous control.
