The song about the Gegants del Pi is undoubtedly the most widely-known of all the songs about giants in the country. The song goes like this: ‘See the giant of Pi, now he dances, now he dances./ See the giant of Pi, now he dances down the path./ See the giant of the City, now he dances, now he dances./ See the giant of the City, now he dances on the terrace’ If we look at the words carefully, we see they have a rather strange meaning. What exactly do they mean? What path and terrace are the figures dancing on?

It seems the words to the song, which dates back to 1798, refer to a reform of La Rambla, when the central section was raised and popularly known as ‘el terrat’ (the terrace). The boulevard was flanked by two lower roadways for carriages and other vehicles which locals dubbed ‘el camí’ (the path). So, in the song, the city giants “dance on the terrace” and the Pi giants “dance on the path”.

The words tell us more interesting things. Namely that, in 1798, the Captain General of Catalonia and Duke of Lancaster lifted the bans on giants taking part in processions that Charles lll had imposed in 1780. The bans had meant giants were unable to take part in Corpus Christi processions. If you read the words carefully, you can see this: ‘Ara ballen, ara ballen’ (Now they dance, now they dance) indicates they did not dance before.