sep
20

La Festa de la Mercè 2023

La Festa de la Mercè, o la Fiesta de la Mercè en español, es una celebración anual que tiene lugar en la ciudad de Barcelona, España. Esta fiesta está dedicada a la Virgen de la Mercè, la patrona de la ciudad, y es una de las festividades más importantes de la ciudad condal. Las fiestas duran varios días y se desarrollan alrededor del 24 de septiembre, que es el Día de la Virgen de la Mercè. Ofrecen una amplia variedad de eventos culturales, musicales, deportivos y religiosos. Algunas de las actividades más destacadas son los conciertos al aire libre en la Plaza Cataluña y otros rincones del Barrio Gótico, el Piromusical, un espectáculo de luces y música en la Fuente de Montjuïc, espectáculos de fuegos artificiales en la playa de la Barceloneta, actividades gastronómicas, exposiciones, desfiles tradicionales de gigantes y cabezudos, correfocs, eventos deportivos y exhibiciones de castellers (torres humanas).

La festividad refleja la diversidad y la vitalidad de Barcelona y es una ocasión muy especial para
disfrutar de la ciudad en todo su esplendor.

En este enlace puedes encontrar toda la información actualizada de las actividades de este año
2023:
https://www.barcelona.cat/lamerce/ca

sep
23

La Mercè Festival

La Mercè Festival 2021

La Mercè is the patron saint of Barcelona since 1687. It is said that in that year there was a plague of locusts, and that people prayed to the Virgin of La Mercè. The city overcame the plague, so the City Council named her patron saint of Barcelona. Since 1868, festivities were held in September each year to commemorate the patron saint. A few years later, in 1871, there was the first La Mercè Festival as such, which became a model for other festivals that still nowadays take place in Catalonia.

What’s the current Festival like? Well, to begin with, September 24th is a holiday in Barcelona, so we get the day off to explore the city. For about four or five days, there are hundreds of activities in several districts, including concerts, street art, traditional dances, fireworks, exhibitions, and many more. The festival focuses on Mediterranean culture and it presents popular culture elements from all areas of Catalonia, the most iconic being the traditional “sardana” dance and the human castles (“castellers”).

la mercè festival fireworks Barcelona*Imagen por Feradz. Extraída de Wikipedia, con licencia Creative Commons CC BY 3.0

This year, La Mercè Festival takes place from September 23rd to September 26th. The full program is available on La Mercè website, and also in La Mercè app (Android / iPhone). Due to the pandemic situation, many events require booking and may have limited capacity or access restrictions. However, a lot of them will be streamed live so you don’t miss a thing!

Have you ever participated in this festival? Let us know in the comments!

 

 

Check out our Spanish face to face and online extensive and private courses with a free level test and no registration fees.

Spanish is online with Dime!

 

Fuente: https://www.barcelona.cat/lamerce/
Imagen destacada extraída de https://ajuntament.barcelona.cat/cartells/ca/2021/la-merce, propiedad del Ajuntament de Barcelona

jun
23

San Juan

June 24th is “San Juan”. Despite being a bank holiday in some areas of Spain, celebrations actually take place on the 23rd, in the festival known as “Verbena de San Juan”.

The festival consists on a dinner party with friends or family, during which people traditionally drink cava and eat “coca de San Juan” (a sweet bread with fruit confit). It’s also very common to light firecrackers and fireworks on the streets, big squares or terraces. There are also bonfires in which people burn old furniture, and in coastal cities many people bathe in the sea at night as a purification ritual.

This festival originated before Christianity. It used to take place on June 21st as the celebration of the summer solstice in the shortest night of the year.  The Church later adapted it to its religious calendar, aligning the celebrations with the birth of San Juan Bautista (Saint John the Baptist) on June 23rd-24th.

Nowadays, the oldest purification rituals haven’t changed, like burning old stuff or bathing in the sea. Still, San Juan is celebrated slightly in different ways across Spain, with Catalonia and Valencia being particularly keen on fireworks. In those regions, June 24th is a bank holiday.

Have you celebrated San Juan in Spain? What do you think of this festival?

 

Let us know in the comments!

Check out our Spanish face to face and online extensive and private courses with a free level test and no registration fees.

Spanish is online with Dime!

abr
30

6 common mistakes in Spanish

6 common mistakes in Spanish

Making mistakes while learning a language is inevitable as well as necessary. However, depending on their mother tongue, students tend to make certain mistakes other learners don’t. If you’re an English speaker learning Spanish, you might want to become familiar with the most common mistakes you should avoid!

1) Más mejor → mucho  mejor

→ The correct way of saying “much better” in Spanish is mucho mejor.
-        Ejemplo: Mi abuela cocina mucho mejor que mi madre.

2) No problema → no hay problema, sin problema, ningún problema

→ There are a few more natural alternatives to this expression in Spanish, such as: no hay problema, sin problema or ningún problema.
-        Ejemplo: He comprado 2 pizzas, pero somos 5. – Ningún problema, nosotros tenemos dos más.

3) Actualmente → en realidad, de verdad, de hecho

→ The word “actually” in English a false friend with the Spanish word actualmente, which means “currently”. So, the correct translation in Spanish for “actually” is en realidad (contradiction), de verdad (for real) o de hecho (surprisingly).
-        Ejemplos: Dice que es alemán, pero en realidad es Holandés. / Quiero terminar las prácticas y poder trabajar de verdad en una escuela. / Carlos tiene mucha suerte, le ha tocado la lotería. De hecho, ¡es la segunda vez que le toca!

4) Es bien → está bien, está/n bueno/a/os/as

→ It’s a very common mistake for “it’s good”, but the verb ser never works with bien. So, the verb would have to be estar, and it can be followed either by bien (things, events, etc.) or bueno/a/os/as (for food).
-        Ejemplos: el nuevo álbum de Bruno Mars está muy bien. ¿Lo has escuchado? / La paella está muy buena, ¿cómo la has hecho?

5) Estar tarde → llegar tarde

→ This is the result of a literal translation from English. Instead of the verb estar or ser (to be) the correct one for this expression is llegar tarde.
-        Ejemplo: La fiesta empieza en 10 minutos, ¿dónde estás? – Lo siento, llego tarde, estoy esperando el autobús.

6) Gracias para → Gracias por

→ The difference between por and para is particularly difficult for English speakers. If you’d like to thank someone in Spanish, it should always be “gracias por + infinitive” or “Gracias por + noun”.
-        Ejemplo: Gracias por el regalo, me ha encantado.

 

Did you know about these common mistakes?

Let us know in the comments!

 

 

Check out our Spanish face to face and online extensive and private courses with a free level test and no registration fees.

Spanish is online with Dime!

abr
23

Sant Jordi

Sant Jordi, on April 23rd, is one of the most well-known Catalan festivities. On this day streets are filled with roses to celebrate love, and books to celebrate World Book Day. Don’t miss out on this beautiful spring festival!

According to the legend, a dragon threatened to attack the small village of Montblanc (Tarragona) unless he was presented with a young lady for him to eat. Each year there was a raffle, until one day the princess herself was the chosen one. When she was left in front of the dragon’s cave, Sant Jordi arrived on a white horse with his shiny armor and sword. After a fierce fight, Sant Jordi killed the dragon, and from the blood that dripped to the ground grew a rose bush. Sant Jordi gave the first red rose to the princess.

By coincidence, on the 23rd of April 1616 two great European writers passed away: Miguel de Cervantes and William Shakespeare. At the beginning of the XX century a writer suggested to name the 23rd of April “Book Day” to promote reading in Catalonia. In 1995 the UNESCO officially declared it World Book Day.

So, according to tradition, on this day men give roses to their loved one, and women give them a book. However, this is changing and adapting to modern times, so lately everyone is buying roses and books, not just for their partners, but also for their family, friends and even workmates.

 

Have you had the chance to walk along the Ramblas (Barcelona) on this day?

Let us know in the comments!

 

Check out our Spanish face to face and online extensive and private courses with a free level test and no registration fees.

Spanish is online with Dime!

 

*Imagen 1: por calafellvalo. Extraída de Flickr, con licencia Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
*Imagen 2: por Oriolx. Extraída de Wikipedia, con licencia Creative Commons CC BY-SA 4.0

Entradas más antiguas «