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Smell of gunpowder and good vibes in the correfocs in the Fires de Sant Narcís in Girona. In these series of photographs in La Vanguardia’s Readers’ Photos we see the moments before and how the fire festival breaks out later in the Plaza del Vi, in front of the City Hall.

The correfoc is a popular cultural manifestation with deep roots in Catalonia. Gangs cannot be missing in an event as busy as Girona’s fiestas.

It is represented as a street spectacle in which a group of people dressed or not dressed as demons parade through the streets running, dancing and jumping among sparklers and fireworks.

This manifestation of festive popular culture descends from the Balls de diables (devil dances) already documented in the 12th century in Catalonia.

Subsequently, it has evolved to the current correfoc, in which pyrotechnics are very important, as can be seen in these photographs.