Rainy start to Barcelona's annual La Mercè festivities

The first night of Barcelona's annual La Mercè festivities took off to a rainy start.

And while most activities were able to go ahead as planned on Friday evening and into the early hours of the morning, some concerts did have to start later than scheduled due to the weather, with heavy rainfall forcing most venues to shut around 2 am.

Jordi Martí, the Barcelona councilor for culture, described the night as a "normal" one – unlike last year's when there were still Covid restrictions and police and revelers clashed – and said there were "hardly any incidents."

There were some people who required assistance from the Red Cross, but "fewer than those on a usual weekend night," he said. 

The council estimates that around 40,000 people went to see the concerts at the Avinguda Reina Maria Cristina venue alone, not to mention those enjoying all the other free events spread across the city. 

Martí, who addressed the press on Saturday with Miguel Gotor,  the culture councilor of this year's guest city, Rome, declared Barcelona and the Italian capital to be "very strong cities." Italian artists like Vozes or Mannarinno will be performing all throughout the weekend. 

The public street party will take over the city until September 26.