SPAIN
Vilafranca del Penedès, Spain— Performers known as correfocs dress as devils and light fireworks on September 10 in the lead-up to National Day in Catalonia. The festival commemorates September 11, 1714, when Barcelona fell to Spanish troops after a long siege and Catalonia was integrated into Spain. An autonomous region in northeastern Spain, Catalonia has long flirted with independence, although support appears to have waned in recent years. In September, the Catalan government started its official campaign for a referendum to secede from Spain, which the government in Madrid says is illegal.
DAVID RAMOS