Corpus Christi and the flower carpets of Sitges

For one night a year, the streets of the old town of Sitges become an open-air workshop. Residents, groups of friends and local associations work into the small hours so that, on Sunday morning, the procession route is covered with carpets of carnations. Corpus Christi in Sitges has medieval roots, but the catifes de flors (flower carpets) as we know them today are largely a 20th-century creation.

A medieval feast

The feast of Corpus Christi was instituted by Pope Urban IV in 1264 and extended to the whole Church in the early 14th century. It took root quickly in Catalonia: Barcelona was already celebrating it in 1320, and from then on streets were decked with branches and plants for the procession. In Sitges, the earliest record is a payment for the feast entered in 1360, according to the Penedès Intangible Heritage Inventory.

The oldest surviving record of the procession route dates from the 17th century, and the route is still largely the same. It was organised by the Confraria de la Minerva, a confraternity that lasted until 1972. By the mid-19th century the structure recognisable today is documented: giants parading on the eve (first mentioned in 1845), carpets and procession. In 1886 the ou com balla — an egg that “dances” on the jet of a flower-decked fountain — is recorded in Sitges for the first time.

From doorsteps to streets

At first the decoration was domestic: each family adorned the stretch of street in front of its home and, as the Diputació de Barcelona inventory notes, the parish priest stopped at the altars that residents set up at their doors. Over time that scattered custom became the collective work of groups of friends and associations.

The decisive change came in the 20th century. In 1918, on the initiative of Miquel Utrillo, the first Exposició Nacional de Clavells (National Carnation Show) was held, linking the feast to the flower growing of the area. After four more editions there was a break until the 1930s. By the 1920s Sitges was already promoting Corpus as a tourist attraction.

War, post-war and the competition

Under the Second Republic religious processions were banned from the streets and, according to the Penedès inventory, for a time the carpets were made inside the church. They returned to the streets in 1939–1940, and in 1942 the carpet competition began; by 1949 it had 139 entries. In 1955 Corpus was declared a Festival of National Artistic Interest and, in the 1960s, of Tourist Interest.

The Foment del Turisme association played a key role in organising and promoting the feast. Sources differ on when this began: the Penedès inventory places it in the 1950s, while the Diputació record speaks of 1967, after a period of low participation, and notes that the association gave the feast a more secular character centred on the show and the carpet competition. In 1965 the Gegants Americanos were presented; they have their place in the article on giants and traditional figures.

Corpus today

Since 1989, when Corpus Thursday ceased to be a public holiday, the celebration has moved to the following weekend. In 2008 the Foment del Turisme’s management ended, the last competition was held in 2010 and the town council took back the organisation with a committee. Today the carpets are displayed without any competition. Recent editions have used more than 300,000 carnations across some thirty stretches of street, combined with other materials such as coffee or rice husks. The Exposició Nacional de Clavells is still held, now in the gardens of El Retiro, alongside a bonsai show that began in 1990.

Ephemeral flowers, lasting tradition

The carpets last only a few hours: they are walked over by the Sunday afternoon procession. That fragility is part of their appeal and explains why each edition starts from scratch, with new designs and the same sleepless night. Behind every stretch lies a chain of transmission between generations, which is what really keeps the feast alive.

Sources and further reading

• El Corpus al Penedès, festa de Corpus de Sitges — Penedès Intangible Heritage Inventory
• Corpus de Sitges record — Cultural Heritage Inventory, Diputació de Barcelona
• Festivitat de Corpus de Sitges — Surt de Casa Penedès
• Corpus: la festa. Història i evolució del Corpus de Sitges (1360-2017)