Hell burns in the town of Berga. All manner of devils and wild beasts dance around the fire, carried away by the reverberating beat of pa-tum, pa-tum, pa-tum. This is said to be the most spectacular festival in Catalonia, and was listed as a UNESCO Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity in 2005.

Celebrating the summer solstice and thanking the gods for the arrival of good weather and plentiful harvests were the aim of the ancient torchlight descents in the Pyrenean villages of old. The same nocturnal ritual is still held today, a unique, intense, unforgettable experience for participants

Solsona carnival is one of the maddest, funniest events on the Catalan festival agenda. If you don’t believe that, ask any of the fancy-dress revellers wandering through the streets until the early hours of the morning, or those getting peed on by the cardboard ass hanging from a tower in the town