The fact that he was elevated to the category of man-symbol by the people for 60 years could not go unnoticed; he was obliged and deserved to pay a public tribute but above all a massive tribute to Àngel Guimerà.
The action was promoted by the playwright Ignasi Iglésias, president of the organizing committee. Convocation: May 23, 1909, at ten in the morning in Plaça Catalunya. It was Sunday and a summer sun was shining. Long before, this huge space was already almost curled up.
Accredited scenographers Miquel Moragas and Salvador Alarma had designed the stage. The tribune was raised between tall posts with evocative titles of his poems engraved in the popular memory. Four more sticks displayed the date of birth, the name, the surname and the current year. Two large Catalan flags and the embroidered coat of arms of the city elegantly framed the central part of the tribune.
The Urban Guard wore their gala uniform, and the municipal band was positioned in a strategic area because it had to perform Hymn to the Poet, with music by maestro Enric Morera and lyrics by Emili.
At 9.45 a.m. Guimerà arrived surrounded by the commissioners and a detachment of the Fire Department opened the way for them through the compact crowd, in charge of sounding the signal to inform them that the event had begun.
The Rambla Catalunya was a galloping river of citizens marching decisively towards the square. A large group of actresses and actors, presided over by the venerable Iscle Soler, stood out in the header.
The parade of institutions, entities and groups behind their flag or standard was incessant.
Mayor Albert Bastardas gave a long and heated speech, culminating in this wish received with a shout that reverberated: “Dear poet: live many years for the glory of Catalonia, poetry and freedom!”.
A Guimerà fatigued by the accumulation of emotions and the three and a half sunny hours that the event had lasted was very brief. His last words: “At this moment, I wouldn’t mind dying, but I want to live to work for Catalonia and to be able to give back just the spark of what he has done for me
He was victorious when he went out on the balcony of the neighboring Maison Dorée, the best restaurant, where the banquet was offered to him.
