{"id":92,"date":"2017-04-04T11:14:34","date_gmt":"2017-04-04T11:14:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bonplan_en.anakena.info\/?p=92"},"modified":"2020-03-23T16:23:06","modified_gmt":"2020-03-23T15:23:06","slug":"sant-joan-holiday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/barcelona-top-travel-tips.com\/sant-joan-holiday\/","title":{"rendered":"Sant Joan: parties, bonfires and Summer solstice"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Sant Joan is celebrated on the night of the 23rd-24th of June. Although it is celebrated all over Spain, it is more significant for Catalans, who consider it their national holiday.<\/p>\n<h2>Origins and popularity of Sant Joan<\/h2>\n<p>\nThe origin of Sant Joan is unknown. Some suggest that it is a pagan celebration that pre-dates Christianity, celebrating the Summer solstice. Others state that it is the devil&#8217;s night and that it is cursed, as it is the furthest date from Christmas night.<\/p>\n<p>Franco&#8217;s regime tried to ban the Sant Joan celebrations as it was considered to be a pagan feast unworthy of Christians. However, despite this, the celebrations continued in secret.\n<\/p>\n<h2>Sant Joan food<\/h2>\n<p>\nSant Joan is celebrated with a huge dinner accompanied by cava and wine.\n<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The emblematic dish of the 23rd of June is the Sant Joan cake, a sweet loaf filled with crystalised fruit. A savoury version made with little pieces of bacon is also very popular with Catalans.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-post-image alignnone wp-image-5261\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2014\/02\/coca-de-sant-joan.jpg\" alt=\"Sant Joan cake\" width=\"628\" height=\"418\" srcset=\"https:\/\/barcelona-top-travel-tips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2014\/02\/coca-de-sant-joan.jpg 628w, https:\/\/barcelona-top-travel-tips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2014\/02\/coca-de-sant-joan-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 628px) 100vw, 628px\" \/><\/p>\n<h2>The Night of Fire<\/h2>\n<h3>Fire, ancestral symbol of Sant Joan<\/h3>\n<p>\nFire has always been a symbol of Sant Joan, as it is supposed to keep away evil creatures, and also clouds bringing bad weather.<\/p>\n<p>Fires are lit by groups of families or friends, or even in public squares. In Barcelona Sant Joan fires are lit all over the city.\n<\/p>\n<h3>The flame of Canigou<\/h3>\n<p>\nSince 1955, one of the rituals of Sant Joan has consisted of lighting a flame at the top of Mount Canigou, in the Catalan Pyrenees, and then carrying it across Catalonia to light different Sant Joan fires across the region.<\/p>\n<p>Thanks to a great number of volunteers, the flame reaches around 300 villages every year and lights around 30,000 fires!<\/p>\n<p>You can find out the route of the flame on the 23rd of June from 12:30 pm to 7:30 pm on the <a title=\"Sant Joan\" href=\"https:\/\/santjoan.bcn.cat\/es\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" class=\"broken_link\">site of the mayor of Barcelona<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-post-image alignnone wp-image-5263\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2014\/02\/feux.jpg\" alt=\"Sant Joan Fireworks\" width=\"628\" height=\"418\" srcset=\"https:\/\/barcelona-top-travel-tips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2014\/02\/feux.jpg 628w, https:\/\/barcelona-top-travel-tips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2014\/02\/feux-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 628px) 100vw, 628px\" \/>\n<\/p>\n<h3>Firecrackers and fireworks<\/h3>\n<p>\nLittle ones generally have fun with sparklers and <em>bombetes<\/em>, while fireworks tend to delight the older kids.<\/p>\n<ul class=\"is-style-badlist\">\n<li>Remember to watch children carefully! Accidents happen easily&#8230;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a href=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2013\/06\/feuxdartifice.png\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter background-curly-sprite wp-image-5265 \" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2013\/06\/feuxdartifice.png\" alt=\"fireworks drawing\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\"><\/a>\n<\/p>\n<h2>Beliefs around Sant Joan<\/h2>\n<p>\nAccording to legend, fantastical creatures meet during the night of Sant Joan.\n<\/p>\n<h3>Sant Joan&#8217;s evil creatures<\/h3>\n<p>\nIt is said that Sant Joan is the favourite night of&nbsp; the <em>&Agrave;nima de Cantiret<\/em> and <em>Gambutz&iacute;<\/em>, two terrifying creatures invented to dissuade children from straying too far from their village.<\/p>\n<p><em>Joanets<\/em> are little balls of light that jealously guard treasures. If you try to catch them, they will defend themselves with bites and burns.<\/p>\n<p>It is also said that the dust from trees on the 23rd of June has a sex, and if you are unlucky enough to have the dust of the opposite sex fall on you, you are guaranteed a disastrous marriage.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-post-image alignnone wp-image-5267\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2014\/02\/lumiere-plage.jpg\" alt=\"Sant Joan beach fire\" width=\"628\" height=\"417\" srcset=\"https:\/\/barcelona-top-travel-tips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2014\/02\/lumiere-plage.jpg 628w, https:\/\/barcelona-top-travel-tips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2014\/02\/lumiere-plage-300x199.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 628px) 100vw, 628px\" \/>\n<\/p>\n<h3>Sant Joan&#8217;s kindly creatures<\/h3>\n<p>\nSant Joan is also a time for the annual appearance of the <em>piropo,<\/em> who goes around creating love by shooting his victims with arrows from his magic bow.<\/p>\n<p><em>Dama Fortuna<\/em> is also out and about on this magical night, and if you pass her you are guaranteed to have good luck for the rest of your days.\n<\/p>\n<h3>Medicinal herbs and magic potions<\/h3>\n<p>\nAccording to popular belief, Sant Joan Bautista always blessed herbs at midnight, giving them curative properties and making them lucky.<\/p>\n<p>It is said that if you you pick the Sant Joan herb and you place it upside down in a closed red bag it will protect you from headaches for a year.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"628\" height=\"418\" class=\"wp-post-image wp-image-5269\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2014\/02\/feux-dartifice.jpg\" alt=\"sant joan\" srcset=\"https:\/\/barcelona-top-travel-tips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2014\/02\/feux-dartifice.jpg 628w, https:\/\/barcelona-top-travel-tips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2014\/02\/feux-dartifice-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 628px) 100vw, 628px\" \/>\n<\/p>\n<h2>Useful information<\/h2>\n<h3>The beach, dedicated playground of Sant Joan<\/h3>\n<p>\nSant Joan takes place all over the city. You will have no trouble finding bonfires surrounded by revellers!<\/p>\n<ul class=\"is-style-checklist\">\n<li>Tip: go and spend the night on the beach, where the celebrations are most spectacular.<\/li>\n<li>Be sure to arrive early (before sunset) as the beach gets full quickly. You can take a picnic and it&#8217;s a nice way to wait for the festivities to start.<\/li>\n<li>You can buy drinks in <a href=\"\/beach-favourite-bars\/\">various bars<\/a> that open onto the beach for the occasion.<\/li>\n<li>If you&#8217;re thinking of dinner in a restaurant, it&#8217;s a good idea to book ahead.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Getting around<\/h3>\n<p><strong><\/strong><\/p>\n<ul class=\"is-style-checklist\">\n<li>By metro: runs all night from the 23rd to 24th June, but it is always packed!<\/li>\n<li>By taxi: be patient, it&#8217;s very difficult to find a taxi on the night of Sant Joan.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong><\/strong><\/p>\n<h3>Pickpockets, accidents and the morning after<\/h3>\n<p>\nAll of the Sant Joan displays are free, so they attract huge numbers of people.<\/p>\n<ul class=\"is-style-badlist\">\n<li>Do not bring valuables with you. Pickpockets move through the crowds, so be very vigilant. Read our article&nbsp;<a href=\"\/pickpockets-tips\/\">Ten anti-pickpocket tips<\/a> for Barcelona.<\/li>\n<li>Do not get involved in big crowds and be very careful! Accidents take place every year at Sant Joan due to fireworks and alcohol abuse.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The 24th of June is a holiday, so many restaurants and shops are closed and the city is almost deserted, giving you a great chance to recover from the night before!<\/p><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sant Joan is celebrated on the night of the 23rd-24th of June. Although it is celebrated all over Spain, it is more significant for Catalans, who consider it their national&#8230;<\/p>","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":93,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_oasis_is_in_workflow":0,"_oasis_original":0,"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[61,57,52,56],"tags":[236,348,238],"acf":[],"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":61,"label":"Traditions"},{"value":57,"label":"Culture"},{"value":52,"label":"Leisure"},{"value":56,"label":"Parties and festivals"}],"post_tag":[{"value":236,"label":"c\u00e9l\u00e9bration"},{"value":348,"label":"feast"},{"value":238,"label":"tradition"}]},"featured_image_src_large":["https:\/\/barcelona-top-travel-tips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2016\/11\/feux-de-joie.jpg",628,418,false],"author_info":{"display_name":"Pauline","author_link":"https:\/\/barcelona-top-travel-tips.com\/author\/paulinelerolland\/"},"comment_info":1,"category_info":[{"term_id":61,"name":"Traditions","slug":"traditions","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":61,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":57,"count":12,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":61,"category_count":12,"category_description":"","cat_name":"Traditions","category_nicename":"traditions","category_parent":57},{"term_id":57,"name":"Culture","slug":"culture","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":57,"taxonomy":"category","description":"<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Barcelona has a lot to offer, discover the local culture, art and architecture, traditions, typical dishes and much more!<\/span><\/p>","parent":0,"count":36,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":57,"category_count":36,"category_description":"<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Barcelona has a lot to offer, discover the local culture, art and architecture, traditions, typical dishes and much more!<\/span><\/p>","cat_name":"Culture","category_nicename":"culture","category_parent":0},{"term_id":52,"name":"Leisure","slug":"leisure","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":52,"taxonomy":"category","description":"<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Leisure in Barcelona? Do you want to go to the cinema or to the theatre? Or do you prefer to go for drinks and dance at a festival? All the information you need is here!<\/span><\/p>","parent":0,"count":72,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":52,"category_count":72,"category_description":"<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Leisure in Barcelona? Do you want to go to the cinema or to the theatre? Or do you prefer to go for drinks and dance at a festival? All the information you need is here!<\/span><\/p>","cat_name":"Leisure","category_nicename":"leisure","category_parent":0},{"term_id":56,"name":"Parties and festivals","slug":"parties-and-festivals","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":56,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":52,"count":26,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":56,"category_count":26,"category_description":"","cat_name":"Parties and festivals","category_nicename":"parties-and-festivals","category_parent":52}],"tag_info":[{"term_id":236,"name":"c\u00e9l\u00e9bration","slug":"celebration","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":236,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":1,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":348,"name":"feast","slug":"feast","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":348,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":1,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":238,"name":"tradition","slug":"tradition","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":238,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":16,"filter":"raw"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/barcelona-top-travel-tips.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/barcelona-top-travel-tips.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/barcelona-top-travel-tips.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barcelona-top-travel-tips.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barcelona-top-travel-tips.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=92"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/barcelona-top-travel-tips.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15086,"href":"https:\/\/barcelona-top-travel-tips.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92\/revisions\/15086"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barcelona-top-travel-tips.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/93"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/barcelona-top-travel-tips.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=92"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barcelona-top-travel-tips.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=92"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barcelona-top-travel-tips.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=92"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}