Barcelona prepares a tribute to Francisco Casavella and his novel 'El día del Watusi'

The writer Francisco Casavella turned the 15th of August in El día del Watusi in the literary imagination of his readers. In the trilogy El día del Watusi (2002-2003), considered a cult novel about 20th-century Barcelona, the main character, Fernando Atienza, and his squire, Pepito el Yeyé, believe they see the corpse of the Watusi, a legendary character of the neighbourhood, floating in the waters of the port of Barcelona. It is 15 August 1971. It is the main novel by the Barcelona-born Francisco García Hortelano, Casavella’s real name, who also left titles such as El triunfo (1990) and El secreto de las fiestas (1997).

The author, who died in 2008, would have turned 60 on 15 October. That is why a great tribute to Casavella and his trilogy will be held on this day. The celebration is organised jointly by the Institut de Cultura de Barcelona, Biblioteques de Barcelona and the Castell de Montjuïc and curated by the writer Miqui Otero. The main focus will be an intense day of activities, with different formats and genres, in the courtyard of the Castell de Montjuïc. The “Casavella Day” will begin with three guided tours of the Sant Antoni neighbourhood. The writer Pilar Romera will make an itinerant route through the neighbourhood where Casavella was born; DJ Ragna (dj and manager of Peret) will trace Casavella’s musical epiphanies and sentimental connections; and the bookseller of La Calders Isabel Sucunza will lead a meeting from this bookshop with a small excursion to the Sunday Book Market, where the relationship between the world of the novel and the neighbourhood and other novels will be on display.

At the Castell de Montjuïc the day will start with the music of the Yumitus del Pichón rumba orchestra. Josele Santiago, fan of Watusi and with a large number of songs inspired by this novel, will offer an acoustic show accompanied by David Krahe. Morfi Grei and Raúl Pulido (members of La Banda Trapera del Río) will present for the first time poems by Eduardo Margaretto that will be part of a record dedicated to Francisco Casavella. Los Perlas will bring the party to a close with their punk reinterpretation of great rumba hits, while Els Biscuit are preparing a concert of versions of some of the favourite songs of the honoree, with the participation of Martí Sales, the poet who composed the hymn Watusi ’65 with his now defunct group Surfing Sirles. Monologues by the performers of the play Los juegos feroces (El día del Watusi, Vol. 1), which could be seen at the last Grec Festival in Barcelona, readings of fragments of the novel and texts of tribute and roundtables will also be part of the programme. Those who come to the Castell will be able to visit a small exhibition space with materials from the universes of Watusi and Casavella, and a loop of the writer’s videos.