h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: La Mercè Festival, Barcelona, Spain - A75634707
Author: Skankyrich - U931109

18 months since my last submission to PR

I'm on h2g2 infrequently these days so please don't fret if I don't respond quickly...

Hi Rich, welcome back to PR, great to see you.

Just a slight spelling error on first read.

"it wasn't until Francesc Cambò, a local politian, began..."

*it wasn't until Francesc Cambò, a local politician, began...*

As an aside, have you been to one of these festivals on your travels?

BMT Scout

Thanks and well spotted, BMT!

I've been to La Merce twice now, back in about 1998 and this year. We're thinking about trying to go back every two or three years from now on.

Good to see another enthusiastic Spanish Entry! Is it too early to list typos/queries?

Thanks, RE Go for it!

I haven't checked the spellings of Catalan names, except Mercè, which you've spelt 'Merce' about 50% of the time.

The word 'Day' appears an enormous number of times - you should be able to get rid of a few (if you feel inclined).

= traditionally

in pairs?

shouldn't need a hyphen

= dragons

The sentence beginning is 42 words long. You could easily divide it at least once.

Probably okay, but it does conjure up odd images...

= Barcelona

mentioned a few times = Las Ramblas - or, according to footnote 2, Les Rambles (unless you are referring to a single Rambla/e)

That's about all, for now.

All corrected. Thanks for all those.

The gegants dance 'in their pairs' as opposed to 'in pairs' because they dance exclusively with their partner gegant.

Also, footnote 2 now reads 'This Entry will use Catalan spellings rather than Spanish throughout, as is normal in Barcelona. The exception is the use of 'La Rambla' which is the Spanish term used by just about everyone to describe what is more correctly known as 'Les Rambles' - the various shorter streets that make up the famous thoroughfare.'

Fast work!

still grates (visions of 'in their pants'). You could say 'dance with each other in pairs' to avoid the double their...

Good luck for a speedy journey to the Front Page.

How about:

'Each pair of gegants is expected to stop every now and then and dance for a moment or two; this involves a lot of spinning around and bobbing up and down...'

*tears up his list of spelling errors prepared last night that RE has posted already*

I got the feeling while reading this that it was based on first hand experience and knowledge, it was so descriptive, a great piece. See ya on the front page.


BMT Scout

Hi Skankyrich

A quick, enjoyable read from my POV (am holding off on submitting my next Spanish entry until the other one has been picked), just a couple of nit-picks, please could you remove the foreign character from the title of your entry: La Mercè Festival, Barcelona, Spain = La Merce Festival, Barcelona, Spain and also pop a title tag on the link "official website"

(fellow Spanish fan) GB

Whoops! Missed those last couple - thank you

This is looking pretty shipshape and watertight. Any objections if we select this now ready for inclusion into the Guide?

a typo in " and you can see saradanas being performed..." instead of saradanas, sardanas.

- The Castells have been declared recently by the UNESCO an element of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
http://www.catalannewsagency.com/news/culture/catalan-human-castles-declared-unesco-element-intangible-cultural-heritage-humanity
It could be mentioned.

- Barcelona is infamous for petty,non-violent thefts...

well, I´d say: "Barcelona, as any other important touristic city..."

I find a bit unfair to attribute that trait to that or any other city for something that happens in any place crowded with tourists.

Well said, Maria! I did notice the remark, but forgot to mention it.

Thanks, Mar!

I disagree regarding Barcelona's infamy for petty crime. It does have a reputation for it; there are websites devoted to it, hundreds of pages of discussion on Trip Advisor and warnings in the guidebooks (we were warned about petty thieves by our landlady as soon as we arrived last time). You may think its reputation is not justified and that could be debated, but it certainly does have a reputation.

Hi Rich,


You´re right, I´ve checked it in this Catalonian newspaper:


http://www.lavanguardia.es/ciudadanos/noticias/20100415/53907957188/las-victimas-de-robos-en-barcelona-alertan-en-internet-google-maps-jordi-william-carnes-la-vanguardi.html

nice to see you around again

That's an astonishing article. Thank you, Mar! And it's great to see you too

And, as Maria suggested, "the bigger the crowd, the greater the risk", is true practically everywhere you go.

After all, http://tinyurl.com/24cf8mk