Photo Essay: Correfoc
LA BISBAL DE L’EMPORDÀ, SPAIN, (AUGUST 2023)
Correfocs (literally meaning Fire Run) is a celebration typical of Catalan Culture and Folklore that involves running the streets of old Catalan villages surrounded by fire and monstrous/mythical figures.
This practice dates back to the Middle Ages and it borrows from the tradition of the 'Devil Dances' (Balls del diable), symbolizing the fight between good and evil. However, Correfocs as we know them today are a relatively new practice that took shape in the late 1970s with the death of Dictator Franco and the birth of Democratic Spain. Then, Catalan people finally had the chance to openly embrace their traditions and culture without risking prosecution. Correfocs emerged as a symbol of Catalan identity and the utmost form of freedom with people being able to retake the streets of their towns as a place for public gatherings to experience the cathartic feelings of running surrounded by people dressed as devils setting fireworks in the crowd.
With globalization and local traditions increasingly being eroded or belittled by mainstream Westernization, Correfocs prevail today as a show of freedom in a Western world where health and safety regulations are contributing to eroding traditions and regulating how people should behave in public spaces. Correfocs involve an obvious risk for the big crowds who run surrounded by fire. The risks that people undertake by dancing with the devils symbolize the freedoms that each human being should enjoy when deciding how to relate to others, how to live their own lives and which risks to undertake without the intervention of any higher power.
Therefore, Correfocs are also a representation of a Mediterranean way of life that differs from other Western countries, where living is seen as something to be enjoyed freely and joyfully while acknowledging the risks that owning a full and well lived life involves.
The photos below were taken during the local celebrations of La Bisbal de l’Empordà, in Catalonia’s Costa Brava. This town is also home of Catalonia’s famed fire run organization, Els Dracs de la Bisbal.
