The traditional Festa Major de Gràcia kicked off this Friday with a proclamation marked by neighborhood demands in the face of the housing crisis and the tourist pressure the neighborhood is experiencing. Vicenç Sanclemente, journalist and historian, was in charge of delivering a speech filled with criticisms of the advance of investment funds, which “expel residents to transform buildings into colivings,” the call for local identity, and the defense of the Catalan language. “The future of the neighborhood cannot be left in the hands of the market and speculative capitalism. The Vila we know is in danger,” he claimed. The Festa Major de Gràcia, which takes place from August 15 to 21, returns this year with 23 decorated streets and squares and around 900 free activities, including concerts, family proposals, and popular culture events.
Sanclemente, international correspondent for RTVE and author in 1990 of one of the first works dedicated to documenting the history of the festivals, has drawn on the past of the old Vila to claim the need to preserve local tradition. For more than half an hour from the balcony of the district headquarters, he emphasized the role of neighborhood entities and residents’ associations in building the festival. “It is not just a street party, it is the collaboration of the neighbors,” he defended.
The neighborhood committees will compete in the traditional decoration contest, whose awards will be given on August 19. The program also includes a new children’s and youth space in Joanic square and maintains the so-called nit tranquil·la on August 17, a day with less activity to favor the rest of the neighbors. Given the high temperatures, the program identifies water fountains and adapts some activities to the heat, while the security device maintains the Punt Lila, safe routes, and the joint presence of the Urban Guard and Mossos d’Esquadra.
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The historian has gone through the neighborhood’s transformations and pointed out the pressure of tourism, a city model that, according to him, “builds escalators to facilitate tourists going up to Park Güell.” Housing occupied a good part of the speech and he reminded the neighbors who have had to leave Gràcia due to the rising cost of housing. “We are facing a sovereignty competition between vulture funds and citizens,” he denounced.
While Sanclemente warned of the effects of tourism on the neighborhood, a few meters from the stage a Japanese family watched the celebrations fascinated in front of a matcha shop, one of those new trendy stores aimed at visitors that have proliferated throughout Barcelona. The parents and their two children, who do not speak Spanish nor Catalan, could not understand that the demands were directed at them. They admired the batucadas, the giants, and the festive atmosphere. They are staying about 20 minutes on foot from the neighborhood’s central square in a tourist apartment at 150 euros per night.
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