Satànica de Sant Andreu

The origins of La Satànica de Sant Andreu can be found in a scout group, the Agrupament Escolta Pare Bertran. By 1982 they already had four devils and a dragon, and in 1985, they set up their own colla de diables. Then, on 6 December 1987, the Satànica de Sant Andreu gave their first performance on their own, entirely separate from the scout group. Currently the group is based at the Centre Municipal de Cultura Popular de Sant Andreu - Can Galta.

Aside from the adult diables, La Satànica has a children's group of diablons and a group of tabalers, who accompany the shows with a variety of percussion instruments including cowbells, snare drums and various other side drums. They also have a dragon, Bretolàs, which has its own dance and a theme tune that can be heard when it appears.

Since the Satànica was created, they have been very active in the social and festive life of Sant Andreu. They have introduced some new festival events, such as the Tres Tombs Infernals – based on devil celebrations in other Catalan-speaking lands – and satirical verses for the correfoc fire run in the annual neighbourhood festival, the festa major. They are also responsible for bringing the Canigó Flame, which the diablons collect from Plaça de Sant Jaume, to Sant Andreu each year. And since 1997, they have handed out coal in the Three Kings procession in Sant Andreu.

The group's fire spectacles went as far as the German cities of Hanover and Wolfenbüttel in the summer of 1995, when they attended the 8th Aplec Internacional de la Sardana i Mostra de Grups Folklòrics de Catalunya, an annual event that takes Catalan dance and folk traditions to other countries. The following summer they attended the 9th edition in Luxembourg and in 1998 they went to Hall in Tirol, in Innsbruck, Austria. They also performed in Toulouse in 1995 and 1996.

In Barcelona, in 1992, the Satànica organised the 8th Trobada de Diables, the annual gathering of the city's devils. Six years later, in 1998, the 13th Trobada de Diables de Barcelona and the 7th Trobada de Diables Infantils marked the end of their tenth anniversary celebrations. Also in 1992, the Satànica's diables received the Olympic torch in La Plaça d'Orfila de Sant Andreu.