Tarragona, Spain, Page 2

Tarragona, Spain, Page 2

My 2001 trip to Spain, and comments about the competition entries.

Tarragona, rich with history and tradition, immediately impressed me for several reasons. Some of the day trips I took gave me a chance to experience a taste of the culture, traditions, food, spirits and other facets of life in an area tracing its history not for centuries, but millenniums. My first ride into Tarragona from the airport in Barcelona let me see the beautiful coast line and architecture of the city. I was impressed already. The view from my hotel room made me take a deep breath of sea air and say WOW ! I knew it was going to be a wonderful eight days.

July 2nd, my friends Jordi and Núria took us to the factory of Ricardo Caballer Pyrotechnics near Valencia. The fireworks master Ricardo Caballer himself gave us a guided tour of his facility, which was so clean and impressive that it looked more like a Spanish villa than a manufacturing area. Several types of fireworks were being produced that day, using both machines and hand crafting. The meal we shared at a local restaurant was the finishing treat to a wonderful visit to a company I had known about for a long time. I sampled a traditional Cataloñian dish made with small pasta that was the bed for a lobster, large shrimp and other seafood. This dish is also made with rice instead of pasta.

That night was the first night of the Tarragona Fireworks Competition. The sun goes down much later in Spain than here so the display time of 10:30 (2230) is about as early as a show can begin in total darkness. Pirotecnia Turis from Turis, Spain, near Valencia, was my first chance to see a display by a Spanish company. They did not disappoint as they fired a good opening night display featuring water fireworks, multiple shades of several colors in shells and a lengthy, loud finale. That night was also my first time to meet all of the judges, which was another special occasion for me. My ballot each night was provided in English, all the others, I assume, were in Catalàn or Spanish.

July 3rd was spent seeing the very interesting Roman monuments in Tarragona, a very special tour of the Cathedral of Tarragona, and trying more local seafood dishes. Some of the photos below will show more about that. Our guides on both of these tours were excellent and helped make that day very special and enjoyable. China Panda Fireworks fired that night. Their multi-sector shells, falling leaves shells, kamuro candles and silver spinners to blue-shell candles were especially nice.

July 4th gave us an open-top bus tour of Barcelona, another very fun day of sightseeing in the city I had before only seen on television during their Olympics. A few times that day it felt strange not to be preparing a firework display for America's Independence Day. I kept reminding myself that that would be work and what I was doing in Barcelona was a lot of fun. I also had a nice interview and photo in the local newspaper, Diari De Tarragona, that day, and thought July 4th was a very appropriate day for that. That night, Pirotecnia Pablo's use of half-and-half shells in different color combinations was an interesting early theme. Their noisy display included many shells, large-bore Roman candle batteries, water shells and the only flights of rockets in the competition.

July 5th included a visit to Pirotecnia Igual, located between Tarragona and Barcelona. I was especially interested in that factory because I have fired some excellent Igual shells in some of my displays. Igual is a big facility located on adjacent sides of two adjoining mountains. We visited with Patxi Igual. There was much automated machinery there, but with plenty of operations that still require the expert hands of pyrotechnic artisans too. That day Igual was making a special type of spinning firework that is used in many religious festivals held in that area of Spain. One of the pictures below will continue my explanation about this. During our tour of the Igual facility I noticed that near the gunpowder mixing room there were statuettes of Santa Barbara, the patron saint of explosions, thunder and fireworks; and of the Montserrat Virgin, the patron saint of Catalonia. That night we were treated to the pyrotechnic delights of Foti International Fireworks. Foti is much remembered for the marvelous displays at the Sydney Olympics. Their display at Tarragona showed that same kind of artistry and expertise, featuring an opening of fan cakes, later with double ring shells, parachute flare chains, beautiful shells and impressive candle batteries.

Jordi Bertrán and I went on a wonderful trip into the mountains July 6th, accompanied by Rafael López-Monné, a local photographer, geographer and hiking enthusiast. He presented me a book of his photos with information about hiking in the Costa Daurada area. Pirotecnia Antonio Caballer's display that night kept the good nights coming with a display that featured excellent Roman candle batteries, water shells and delayed segment shell-of-shells, in addition to plenty of other shells and other effects. The question was, could La Rosa Lorenzo top the two wonderful displays we had seen from Foti and A. Caballer? The answer was yes. Their winning display featured water fireworks, shell-of-shells that I can only describe as "a show in one shell", plenty of noise and fancy shells, six 16 inch (400 mm) shells and a massive and lengthy final crescendo.

I would like to thank the city of Tarragona, Jordi Bertrán Luengo, Carles Sala Roca, Núria Casas Marti, and all the other people responsible for inviting me to be a judge at Tarragona, and for making sure I had a wonderful time there.

More Photos of Tarragona Sights And Activities

Among the new friends I made in Tarragona are two gentlemen from PIROART.COM . Francisco Martínez Gómis (L.) was on the jury. Mikel Pagola Erviti (R.) is director of that web site that provided so much good information about the Tarragona competition, and provided for on-line spectator voting for the best firework display.

I also met with with representative from a group called Ball de Diables de Tarragona. They parade dragons and people dressed as devils in Tarragona and other religious festivals. (L. to R.) are Antoni Caparros, Antonia Cantos Cantos, Nuria Martorell and Joan Gasol. They presented me a marvelous keepsake book about their activities in various festivals. The devils use spinning fireworks on poles to spread sparks along their path. The dragons have pyrotechnic fountains on their dragon figures.

Bread is turned into a special treat by the people of the Cataluñian area. The toasted bread is rubbed with a sliced clove of garlic, then generously rubbed with a ripe tomato. Salt is added, then oil is poured on the bread. The combination of tastes and aroma make this a real treat.

There is a story in Tarragona that Saint Michael fought the Devil in a fight where the Devil used fireworks as weapons. The Saint is standing on the head of the Devil in this sculpture, which is located at the entrance to the four-star Hotel Husa Imperial Tarraco, where I stayed.

A walk to see the Roman wall and other Roman and historical artifacts is a must when visiting Tarragona. This particular street is decorated with natural colored stones in beautiful patterns.

The immense Roman wall towers over the person in this photo, an good indication of its height. Different sizes of stones appear at different heights and locations in the wall, indicating it was built in stages at different times.

This is a view of the city from the top of the Roman wall, looking toward the Mediterranean Sea.
For a web cam view of Tarragona, click HERE.

A tour of the wall will take one close to the Cathedral of Tarragona. I was amazed at the huge size of this church. It struck me as being one that should even be admired as the main cathedral in a city of a million people.

During the Festival of Santa Tecla, patron saint of Tarragona, many unique events take place prior to and during September 23rd. One famous one is captured in a large statue. Human towers are formed and it is normal for a child to be at the top of the tower. In one portion of the celebrations, these towers of people actually move down the street. Truly special and amazing.

Another feature in the festival parades are people wearing special costumes of animals such as this eagle, the official bird of Tarragona. Only one man holds this figure up by putting his body inside it, where the four legs support it in this photo. It weighs over 200 pounds, almost 100 kilograms.

This is a typical city block in Tarragona, showing various building architecture.

A visit to the Roman Amphitheater is another way to truly go back a thousand years or more in time. It is believed that the right side seats were removed at some time so those stones could be used to build a new structure elsewhere.

Tarragona also has a number of impressive monuments to see, this one located near the sea wall.

BACK TO TARRAGONA, PAGE 1

	Among the new friends I made in Tarragona are two gentlemen from PIROART.COM . Francisco Martínez Gómis (L.) was on the jury. Mikel Pagola Erviti (R.) is director of that web site that provided so much good information about the Tarragona competition, and provided for on-line spectator voting for the best firework display.
	I also met with with representative from a group called Ball de Diables de Tarragona. They parade dragons and people dressed as devils in Tarragona and other religious festivals. (L. to R.) are Antoni Caparros, Antonia Cantos Cantos, Nuria Martorell and Joan Gasol. They presented me a marvelous keepsake book about their activities in various festivals. The devils use spinning fireworks on poles to spread sparks along their path. The dragons have pyrotechnic fountains on their dragon figures.
	Bread is turned into a special treat by the people of the Cataluñian area. The toasted bread is rubbed with a sliced clove of garlic, then generously rubbed with a ripe tomato. Salt is added, then oil is poured on the bread. The combination of tastes and aroma make this a real treat.
	There is a story in Tarragona that Saint Michael fought the Devil in a fight where the Devil used fireworks as weapons. The Saint is standing on the head of the Devil in this sculpture, which is located at the entrance to the four-star Hotel Husa Imperial Tarraco, where I stayed.
	A walk to see the Roman wall and other Roman and historical artifacts is a must when visiting Tarragona. This particular street is decorated with natural colored stones in beautiful patterns.
	The immense Roman wall towers over the person in this photo, an good indication of its height. Different sizes of stones appear at different heights and locations in the wall, indicating it was built in stages at different times.
	This is a view of the city from the top of the Roman wall, looking toward the Mediterranean Sea. For a web cam view of Tarragona, click HERE.
	A tour of the wall will take one close to the Cathedral of Tarragona. I was amazed at the huge size of this church. It struck me as being one that should even be admired as the main cathedral in a city of a million people.
	During the Festival of Santa Tecla, patron saint of Tarragona, many unique events take place prior to and during September 23rd. One famous one is captured in a large statue. Human towers are formed and it is normal for a child to be at the top of the tower. In one portion of the celebrations, these towers of people actually move down the street. Truly special and amazing.
	Another feature in the festival parades are people wearing special costumes of animals such as this eagle, the official bird of Tarragona. Only one man holds this figure up by putting his body inside it, where the four legs support it in this photo. It weighs over 200 pounds, almost 100 kilograms.
	This is a typical city block in Tarragona, showing various building architecture.
	A visit to the Roman Amphitheater is another way to truly go back a thousand years or more in time. It is believed that the right side seats were removed at some time so those stones could be used to build a new structure elsewhere.
	Tarragona also has a number of impressive monuments to see, this one located near the sea wall.