Correfoc in Barcelona: Fire and devils on the downtowns

The Correfoc (firerunners) is a cultural and popular tradition typical of Catalunya, Balearic Island and Valencia where a group of folks, usually dressed up as devils, walk by the streets of Barcelona running, dancing and jumping inside fireworks.

History of Correfocs

The origin stands in the “Dance of Devils”, documented in Catalunya since the XIIth century. In the XXth century, after the dictatorship, the tradition was recovered and adapted to modern times, resulting in the “Castellers” (human tower) and the devil’s firerunners. By 1977 the “Devils of Clot” named themselves “Correfocs” in a walk with fire where the participants where dressed up with a sack and with a stick full of fireworks.

Since that moment, the celebration has evolved to the actual “Correfocs”, where the pyrotechnics has assumed the most important role, meanwhile the “folks” realize really sophisticated and spectacular performances.

In Barcelona, the most amazing “Correfocs” run during the Gracia Celebrations, the San Roc Celebrations in August and the Mercè Celebrations in September.