Immaculate Conception

This week is a double-hitter for holidays. Today, the 6^th of December is El Dia de la Constitució, a Spanish holiday celebrating the Spanish Constitution. This is a holiday that is not much valued in Catalonia where people feel they get the short end of any Spanish stick, but it is a legal holiday so it has the value of many things being closed and many people getting the day off.

Two days later comes La Immaculada Concepció, also known as La Purissima. I always thought that this celebrated Mary’s immaculate conception of her baby Jesus, never mind that the timing was off, since he was born on the 25th. But when there are so many miracles being celebrated, the miracle of those eight and a half months would have been just one more.

But no, I was wrong, and apparently I am not alone, as there are many Catalans who also don’t know what the holiday is about. La Concepció celebrates the immaculate conception of Mary by her mother Saint Anne. It seems virginal conceptions run in the family. And of course Mary’s virginal conception of Christ takes place on the Feast of the Annunciation, as featured on any number of paintings, on 25 March, nine months before Christmas, the kind of timing you might expect.

So what does it all mean? It means that many people get two days off from work this week, allowing them not necessarily to go to church as they are supposed to, but to go skiing. Two days off in one week means a pont (bridge) which means they add an extra day in between or at the end to tie it to a weekend, and make it into a long weekend. Sadly there is very little snow, but with a five-day weekend, there is still time for a miracle.

Over 400,000 vehicles left Barcelona for the long weekend and what with accidents and breakdowns and so many cars on the road at the same time, many of them got stuck in traffic. Among other traffic jams, those who were headed to France had a long wait at the border near me with 30 kilometers of back up. For some, there are no miracles.