On 30 March, Mercabarna and the Wholesale Business Association (AEM) celebrated the yearly Spring Festival. Some 500 florists took part in this event, the aim of which was to present the latest floral trends, techniques and products to help celebrate St George’s Day, Mother’s Day and weddings.

A more plural attitude to St George’s Day
This year, Mercabarna chose to extend the rose-giving tradition to the different –and increasingly more numerous– cultures coexisting in Catalonia. For this reason, a party was held, to which the entities representing the most numerous of newcomer collectives were invited: FEDELATINA, representing the Latin Americans; ASOCROM, the Romanians; IBN Batuta, the Arab group; and the Union of Chinese Associations of Catalonia.

To acquaint them with this tradition, Montserrat Gil de Bernabé, managing director of Mercabarna, presented them with a popular comic in Catalan, translated into Spanish, Chinese, Arabic and Romanian, explaining the origin of the legend of St George.
The event concluded with a mass launch of balloons with roses tied to them, one for every country in the world.

Multicultural roses
The floral demonstrations that took place throughout the morning were focused on multiculturalism. The artists from the schools Rosa Valls-Formación, Escuela de Arte Floral de Cataluña, and Smilax Taller Florística created several works that featured elements representing the different cultures now living side by side in Catalonia.
Roses with coffee beans, which evoked Colombia; roses decorated with golden motifs, rice and bamboo, typical of China; or roses arranged on a tajine (an earthenware dish widely used in North African cuisine) with dates and mint, typical of Moroccan culture, were only some of the proposals for this year’s St George’s Day celebration.