My mother, who was deeply religious, whose name was Núria and therefore celebrated her saint on the same day as we celebrate our patron saint’s day, always told me that hers was a joyful and full of life celebration because the day of the Mother Gods found is associated with gatherings, pilgrimages and, above all, community and coexistence with people. Maybe that’s why, or not, I don’t know, I acquired a practice, and it’s that while working as I always had to work for Meritxell and, consequently, I covered the events of the sanctuary as a journalist, I called her by phone after mass from the cloister to congratulate her, while in the background you could hear the germination of the people and the music of the sardanas. I don’t know if, today, there is a majority of people who associate Meritxell with some event in their lives, but no one can deny that, despite the secularization of society, everything Meritxell means has had, and still has for many, a strong influence on the historical evolution of the country. And this is what we will see this Saturday at the sanctuary, a Meritxell show, the patroness who summarizes with the language of music and dance the meaning that the presence of the Virgin has had over time in the daily life of the inhabitants of the valleys. Through music and dance, a story is built that identifies the strength of a town, its identity, as well as the traditions and values that surround it. And we will see it in the same cloister from where my mother called to congratulate her. There will be no sardanas playing in the background, but music composed expressly for the five regions of the country to show the essence of the country.
