BERGA, Spain — The Patum, a spectacular festival here that dates to medieval times, plays out the struggle between good and evil — represented by costumes and statues of angels, fire-wielding demons and dragons, and Christian knights fighting Turks and Moors — amid raucous celebrations over five days.
But here in the heartland of Catalonia, the festival has also come to symbolize the far more modern political and social struggles of Spain — between right and left, church and state, the Spanish government in Madrid and Catalan secessionists.
Catalonia’s independence drive has imbued the Patum, like so many other cultural symbols and expressions here, with ever greater nationalist significance for Catalans.
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