English, French, Australian, Japanese, Argentine, Colombian, Swedish, Turkish… Many of Gràcia’s new neighbors are working to keep the neighborhood’s traditional parties going. Even a handful of tourists are lending a hand by helping to decorate the streets. For years, the most veteran organizers of these celebrations and many lifelong residents have emphasized that the lack of generational support, the gentrification that affects this part of the city and also an exaggerated number of visitors distort this expression of Barcelona’s popular culture . But these days you can see the involvement of people from all over the world in the preparations.
Mozart is one of the streets that best represents collaborative action. “If you’re from outside, being a volunteer gives you a sense of belonging”, highlights Catalina Kruger, an Argentinian who this year has taken on the responsibility of being the director of the decoration of this street. So he settled in Gràcia, four years ago, he was added to the commission. She is not the only one. Catalina is the successor of Ali, responsible last year, who arrived from Australia in 2019 and who also did not hesitate to lend a hand. Along with them, volunteers from 26 other nationalities have followed the same path and have been involved in the preparations that, this summer, pay tribute to the character of Alice in Wonderland. In this way, new residents of the neighborhood from England, Sweden, Turkey, Colombia, Venezuela and many other countries are working hard these days to preserve the essence of the festivities.
Tordera and Verdi streets are not far behind. “We are like the UN, we have Hungarian, Chilean, Brazilian, Costa Rican and Japanese volunteers”, points out the head of Verdi, Susana Font, who adds: “It doesn’t matter to us the nationality of those who want to help. For us, he is another person who has hands and interest, and is welcome.” Some volunteers pour in full time, others for a day or an afternoon. If you want to work and join in, you do what you can.
There are more than 27,000 foreigners in the neighborhood according to the latest data from the municipal register. They are 7% of the total population arriving from other parts of the world who have chosen Barcelona to settle there. Gràcia is precisely one of the districts where the international presence has grown the most in the last five years. Soki and Erina are two of them. They have been living in Barcelona for a few months, far from Tokyo, their hometown. Her and her friend’s smiles never leave their faces as they glue down newspaper. It is their first experience in the preparations, which they have discovered thanks to another friend who has been living in the city for a longer time.
Just as foreign residents approach them, they also recruit curious tourists who stop to ask what they are riding. This is how the story of Elie Noel was born, a French tourist who last year had his first experience and this year has decided to undertake a trip from Paris exclusively to be part of the group of volunteers from the Tordera street commission to let the party be over. The first thing that caught the attention of the Parisian is that “there is no stress”. Despite the setbacks, the festive atmosphere is felt and there are no demands, “everyone puts in what they know”.
“Many people who come to the parties leave us their numbers to collaborate in the next ones, this happens organically, we don’t look for it”, says the owner of Tordera, Laia Miler. In his commission there are 25 people collaborating, of which only six are from the neighborhood and just three live in Tordera. If it weren’t for the help of foreigners, they wouldn’t be able to decorate the streets. For this reason, they thank everyone who wants to join them and make them feel as if they were neighbors of the neighborhood. So much so that Elie is already a plus and has been called Renau, for his aptitude as a painter.
What drives someone so alien to the culture to participate as if they were a native? They all conclude that it is not just the creative process that motivates them. What attracts them most is the “atmosphere” that is generated around them. “Now we don’t know what we’re creating, but I’m happy”, exclaims Soki, and continues: “We talk, drink and eat, as well as helping. This is what makes me here.” On Carrer Tordera, while volunteers sing songs from Rosalía at the top of their lungs, Noel, with a brush in hand and a large modernist stained glass window to paint, assures that “you don’t see parties like this in Paris”, and even less the union of neighbors for do a collective job.
The enthusiasm to be part of these festivities allows them to ignore the graffiti that denounces overcrowding and that invite tourists to go home. Once again, the graffiti that blames them for much of the neighborhood’s ills appears shortly before the festivities begin. The calligraphy of some of these paintings is similar to that of last year. “There is like a breeding ground that does not end and does not allow us to see the arrival of tourists and foreigners with good eyes”, points out Joan Sánchez, manager of the Festa Major de Gràcia Foundation, and also recognizes that the neighborhood is experiencing a reality is a product of mass tourism and gentrification that has directly affected the residents, but it is worth noting that it is a minority who carry out these derogatory actions.
The increase in the price of rent is one of the issues that worries the residents the most and that affects the traditional event of the holidays. “The middle class has to go and live outside of Gràcia,” laments Sánchez. This is reflected in the young people who were born in a street that their grandparents and parents had decorated, since when they leave the neighborhood, and even the city, they lose the feeling of belonging and that, in the finally, it scraps the generational relief that has existed for several decades.
Neighborhood committees, after all, are a social meeting place throughout the year. The decor, in a way, is the excuse to get together and meet the neighbors. In this sense, Sánchez acknowledges that “the type of neighbor in the neighborhood is changing a lot”, but also assures that “the fiesta major has an anarchic point and reflects the multiculturalism of Gràcia”, so everyone is welcome to keep the party alive Barcelona’s most popular summer club.
