La Mercè maintains a faithful idyll with Montjuic. The mountain hosts part of the main festival of Barcelona in the Albéniz Palace and the castle. They are two of the scenarios inherent to circus acts, theater and dance, without alteration or transfer because the promontory is the provisional home of Barça, always a magnet of crowds. However, the evening performances have paled somewhat compared to the influx to the Olympic Stadium this Saturday, game day.
It has been one of the first occasions in which an event massive -like those of La Mercè- is measured by the change of the team Xavi Hernandezstill being tested after five duels outside the Camp Nou while it rebuilds. In the pulse between soccer and festival, the Barcelona fans have prevailed, many more than those attracted by the cultural poster.
It was enough to take a look at the buses to certify it: the numerous shuttle for the followers they rose to the top from Spain squarewhile in number 150 – which surrounds the mountain to the top, ideal for the Mercè public – it was hardly difficult to find a seat.
In any case, the confluence between the celebrations and the meeting was sensed in some other symptom. Some informants with Barça vests acknowledged that there have been many who asked them how to get to the enclosures de la Mercè and if the shuttles were used to travel to the festival performances. “Today a little more happened to us than other days. “People are a little lost,” they felt. This is exactly what happened to Daniel and Juan, who did not know how to find the marquee to take the line that goes up to the Albéniz garden. “We ended up coming on foot, but it was pleasant”, they have resigned.
“Where is the stadium?”
Some guards estimated that 580 people had crossed one of the tickets of the palace in the last hour before Barça started playing. They were twice as many, if not more, than those who had crossed the fence after lunchtime and four o’clock, seduced by La Mercè. “Many more people have been asking how to get to the stadium for an hour and a half,” the employees have admitted.
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In fact, the Albéniz gardens have become shortcut for the culés on match days. Less than an hour before the ball rolled, there were many passers-by entering the meadow with Tshirts Barcelona fans. José Luis and Yolanda went with their children for the first time to Lluís Companys. “It is not very crowded, but we preferred to go up on foot to avoid the line “of the buses,” they said. Michelangelo seemed more disoriented in the gardens. “There are a lot of people. It has taken us a lot to climb with so much agglomeration”, he huffed, quickening his pace in search of the Olímpic.
The elastic culés predominated at the foot of Montjuïc with about two hours left before the initial whistle. “Above all there are people who go to Barça. “Very few ask about Mercè,” an agent from the Urban Guard. “It is true that we have seen more people and more cars, but is normal. “I see no problem with football coinciding with Mercè,” Joan has resolved, surrounded by the family to enjoy the palace. His wife, Carme, has disagreed. “They should have moved the game to another day. “Between one and the other, there is too much fuss,” she replied.