Monday, September 24, 2012

A Festivity that seduces us

Santa Tecla marks the end of our calendar of summer festivities. It's the end of the season, the right moment to close one door and open another. It is just when Sitges finds itself and reckons its environment. It is just like the fall ambiance, that changes and returns in a more pristine way. Santa Tecla is a Festivity that we have learned to love even more as time passes, a Festivity engrained in our DNA. More than a celebration, we are talking about a heartfelt feeling.

With your permission, I will repeat the greeting of Santa Tecla.

"More than a celebration, we are talking about a heartfelt feeling

Flageolets, bagpipers, drums, powder, sticks beating the ground or against each other, the band and the Cobla, the traditional Catalan music ensemble used to accompany Sardanas. For Santa Tecla, everything is combined in a balanced and dynamic symphony, that makes us enjoy the Festivity in a frenzied pace, and in a fun for the whole family mood. And all the people that share a feeling of brotherhood become a big family, all those that share a feeling and an outright love for a Festivity that we live with passion and commitment. 

The world stops as the communion of all these elements takes the streets. The kids are no longer mere spectators to become the real stars of the festivity. For many, such an event represents weeks of hard work and assays, threading needles and sewing so all the kiddy dances and interludes, kiddy giants and beasts of fire look splendorous for the people who are waiting anxiously. Each contribution is necessary, every job is important, and all efforts add up to birth a feeling that goes beyond the celebration. 

All such things added together produce a feeling that, this year, will expand beyond the Old Town to approach the neighborhood of Poble Sec, thanks Sandra Rubí, the person that accompanies the banner of the Procession of Santa Tecla. The Civic Procession of 22 September will follow a very peculiar route that will begin in Carrer de Pins Vens, will visit Cases Noves and will have to overcome the railroad tracks and reach the Parish, leaving behind never seen images of dances and interludes on streets that had never seen them. 

Without prejudice to regulations related to opening hours of shops in tourist towns, and respecting the rights granted to civil servants, the Town Council dearly recommends to all business owners to keep their shops closed, so everybody can enjoy such an important celebration.

In addition, it is requested not to park any vehicle on the route of the Civic Procession of 22 September, and on the route of the Kiddy Matinee and the Procession of Santa Tecla on 23 September. Without prejudice to any possible application of the law in case of unlawful parking, the Town Hall will not be liable for any damage that may occur as a result of the development of events related to Santa Tecla in the above mentioned streets to properties, such properties include vehicles, shop awnings and windows and homes.

Just a few weeks ago, Sitges held its Main Festivity and, during the next days, we will repeat again the sounds, images and smells that are typical of our idiosyncrasy, everything that makes us feel as people from Sitges. We will do it for Santa Tecla, our Patron Saint, and for our traditions, the traditions of Sitges and our country. 

To all residents of Sitges, enjoy the Festivity! Let the entire family gout out and celebrate, let children show off all the work they have done to honor our Patron Saint. Let friends and acquaintances reunite to share moments decorated with feeling. Please, participate, but do it with respect and civility, and experience Santa Tecla with the intensity it deserves.
  
Long live Sitges and long live Santa Tecla!

Miquel Forns i Fusté
Mayor of Sitges"

Monday, September 10, 2012

A Sept. 11 bound to be a historical milestone


A year ago, Sitges played a very important role in the official celebration of the National Day of Catalonia. All residents of Sitges were thrilled by the participation of our iconic Moixiganga dance in such an important celebration, organized by the Catalonian Government.

A year later, the scenario offered by the Spanish state shows the signs of a terrible upheaval. The hunger for Catalonian Independence has experienced a dramatic growth, and now is shared by most of the inhabitants of our country. The current situation marked by a devastating crisis is one of the reasons, since the fiscal deficit of Catalonia is terribly unfair for Catalans, but the growing and overhanging sensation that the Spanish State has not assumed and will not assume our national identity as a nation among nations, has boosted the number of Catalans that believe that the only possible solution is to break away from Spain.

Our National Day is an institutional commemoration and a festivity, but has never ceased to be a day for demands, at least for those that believe in the full independence of our country. This year, the demanding character has acquired a heightened importance, because most Catalans feel that we must take a step forward to insure our future as a Nation and the welfare of our citizens.

If I may, I will reproduce the PROCLAMATION published for the National Day: 


"PROCLAMATION FOR THE NATIONAL DAY OF CATALONIA"

To all people living in Sitges,

As every year, the National Day held on the Eleventh of September also comes to our town. A day in which we commemorate the events of September 11, 1714. We pay tribute to the figure of Rafael Casanova and to all the Catalans who fought and died for the freedom and rights of Catalonia.

September 11 also serves to vindicate our desire to be ourselves, to have our own culture, our own language and our institutions. Our country is very proud and lives it with legitimacy; hence, we will never surrender our identity and our sovereignty.

It is therefore necessary, much more in a time of severe turmoil, to leave aside what divides us and materialize everything that unites us all. We need unit, but also loyalty to our country and its institutions. The fate of the Catalan nation is in the hands of all and we require an uncompromising commitment.

Catalonia needs us. From the towns and cities of our country, we can contribute to return our beloved land to its fully deserved place. Our council is committed to the country and therefore, in our National Day, we are contributing our bit to build a Catalonia founded on progress, equality, freedom and social justice, the Catalonia we all want.

We need more than ever to defend Catalonia, show it to the world, so we invite you to adorn your balconies with the flag of our country, the "senyera".

I also invite you to live our National Day in an intense manner, and take part in the official ceremony that will be held in Sitges, September 11 at 11 am, in front of the monument to Doctor Robert at the Town Hall Square.

We live National Day with our freedom looming over the horizon.

Long live Sitges! Long live Catalonia!

Miquel Forn i Fusté
Mayor of Sitges "