La Cremada del Dimoni, the most genuine fest in Badalona

On a day like today 80 years ago in Badalona a demon was burned for the first time. The Cremada was an initiative of the Brotherhood of Sant Anastasi, who also organized it, inspired by an episode narrated by the baron of Maldà in his book Calaix de sastre, where he comments, referring to the saint’s day in Badalona , “That the eve of this party … they set on fire a figure.”

That first Cremada took place in the place known as the excavations, the area of ​​the current Plaça de l’Assemblea de Catalunya where the Museum is now. In 1942 and 1943 it was built on the beach, which became the definitive site in 1955, the year in which the Roman baths were discovered and the first stone of the Museum was laid.

This year 2020 is not the first in which the devil won’t be burned. In 1944, when it was not yet an ingrained tradition, it was replaced by a music festival. It is not clear why, but it is possible that the cause was the lack of funds of the Brotherhood of Sant Anastasi, which had had many expenses. In any case, people protested and the cremada, from the following year, has been uninterrupted until this 2020 the state of emergency resulting from the Covid 19 has prevented it.

We’re sure we’ll burn it again next year!

Figurative aspect of the demon of 1940. Image taken from the book La Cremada del Dimoni de Badalona, by J. Mayné Amat. Museu de Badalona, 2015