Rosa Mach (Barcelona, 1957) grew up in Petritxol, a passageway in which she would meet a Mercè virgin sheltered inside a niche every day. That tadpole, daughter of the Dulcinea farm, would be decades later, and for 12 years, the head of Barcelona’s festivities from the Barcelona Institute of Culture (Icub). Things of destiny, the patron saint of her street came to occupy her life. Until reaching a retirement that she has become an interesting vantage point from which to contemplate the city.
Her last Mercè as captain was in 2019. This is the first after the pandemic…
It is a great merit that they have been able to organize the 2020 and 2021 events. A much-needed message of support was sent to the world of culture, and I celebrate it. It was also very difficult to carry out the 2017 Mercè after the attack on the Rambla in August of that year. We were afraid of not being respectful, but the city had to move on. It was a very harsh mix of feelings.
Is the good thing about La Mercè its continuity?
I think it has had continuity in the central trunk of popular culture. Then there are things that, depending on the political mandate, have been taking on one veneer or another. But La Mercè alone endures whatever happens. It is a scheme that in its 70% nobody touches it. It has a life of its own regardless of who governs. All have respected the festival.
It must be one of the few things that all mayors have respected.
Yes, it gives me that feeling. Perhaps because there have always been professionals at the forefront. The same thing happens with the Grec festival and, in general, with everything that comes out of the Icub. With more or less resources, but it has been left to do.
He has worked with five different mayors. Have they tried to leave their mark on La Mercè?
They have done it in the election of the town crier, which is always the most political element of the festivities.
Do you remember any proclamation with special affection?
Ugh… difficult… The Tortell Poltrona (2020) was very nice; I also liked the one by Montserrat Carulla with Vicky Peña (2009). Jaume Sisa’s (2008), who played Sisa, was very good. But I also remember very unfortunate situations, like what happened in 2006 with Elvira Lindo. We had to go out the back door of the town hall because in Sant Jaume there were many people shouting because they had spoken in Spanish. it was horrendous. We have missed a proclamation by Pasqual Maragall. And perhaps also Pepe Rubianes.
Has the ‘procés’ affected programming?
We have done what artistic directors have decided, without interference. The claims remained in the proclamation.
At some point did they consider returning the proclamation to the balcony of Sant Jaume?
The Colau government raised it, but it is not viable because you will always find yourself below with someone screaming.
What do you think of this year’s herald?
I think it’s fantastic, although I don’t know it. It is a very close story because Carla Simón’s mother, Neus Pipó, worked in the city council, in the Youth area. I met her, she was a very powerful woman.
Does the government consult the town criers?
It depends, there have been years that yes. And periods that do not. Currently it is decided by the mayor. The only thing we have always asked for is that they be people from the field of culture, not political or media figures. Tortell Poltrona, for example, was our idea. If possible, in addition to coming from culture, they should be people who love the city, of origin or adoption, I don’t care.
Do you think that Barcelona pride has been lost?
It has become entangled. Lost I don’t know, but I think we have a double discourse: very critical towards the inside but afterwards people in general feel proud to be from Barcelona. But we have become very destructive. I think that people complain more than before, it seems that we are in a permanent campaign, with a constant plebiscite for Ada Colau.
But it seems that La Mercè always manages to stay on the sidelines.
Let’s see what happens this year with all the talk about insecurity. I hope what happens every year, without more, although later each one can magnify it or not. I miss the sweet spot between being critical and sending a message of esteem towards the city.
Those ‘Maragallismo’ campaigns…
Exact. This is no longer fashionable and may be seen as an old approach. But I think people want their leaders to love their city. I’m not saying they don’t want it, but they do have a very negative position, of constant fighting, and that bores and confuses the people of Barcelona.
How about the mayors during the Mercè?
Maragall was very present at the parties. Clos was Clos, observing things his way. Hereu was very involved and was very close. They crushed him alive and he is a very good person, close and easy. Trias surprised you by appearing at dawn in the Ciutadella; very partying Colau has been involved above all in the new scenarios.
At what point is the relocation of La Mercè considered?
Before, everything happened in Plaza de Catalunya, Ciutat Vella, Fòrum, Maria Cristina and Plaza de los Àngels. With Trias we began to exploit the Bogatell, an ideal space for large concerts. And Colau marked the decentralization of the party as a priority policy. It was very necessary because, in addition, everything was very collapsed. We needed safer places.
Is the public getting younger?
We noticed it about eight years ago. The kids join the Mercè more and more early. Before it was at 16 years old, now you find them at 13 or 14 years old. The Fòrum is very dark and with too many corners, but the beach is an open and safe space.
And what about going to Besòs?
A great idea, as it is now to go to Ciutat Meridiana. Decentralizing is a very big technical challenge. The grace lies in discovering new spaces in the city, and some remain fixed and others may change, like Besòs, which this year is not repeated. Recovering the Estadi straight, for example, is a proposal that always flies over the environment. The rock concerts were held there in the first Mercè.
When did you notice that tourism was incorporated into La Mercè?
It has gone in parallel to the growth of tourism in the city. It makes you think that places like Àngels should disappear because they had too much tourist pressure. That is why now there is a greater commitment to the Moll de la Fusta or the Rambla del Raval, places that are easier to vacate. The ‘correfoc’, for example, always has a lot of tourists and it’s great that it takes place on Passeig de Gràcia.
What has been the most delicate moment of the Mercè?
Every year you have the same concern: the flows of people. When we saw Maria Cristina or Fòrum very full, we suffered. We were always aware of the movement of people, which is why La Mercè counterprograms itself with similar activities on distant stages. It is a way to distribute to the public.
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To finish, what advice would you give to a Barcelonan who is about to retire?
Let him rediscover Barcelona. It is a rare and complicated stage. It would be nice if the city was aware that it has a bastion of retired people that could be capitalized on. Many older people want to continue doing things, but within their professional framework, not just in NGOs. You retire and fall to the dark side. It is very rare… At the municipal level it is quite a challenge because all of us who started the democratic council in the 1980s are retiring. Another thing that is very rare is walking around the city at times when you were never out on the street.