
Salou is known for being one of the vacation hubs of the golden coast, for the infamous SalouFest and for hosting Port Aventura, the great amusement park of Catalonia. But like so many towns on the coast that today are dedicated to tourism, Salou has a past as a local fishing village, with its own traditions that go far beyond tourists getting drunk.
So, like every town with its own identity in Catalonia, Salou, an hour by train from BCN, has its own town festival. In fact, like Barcelona, it has two, the winter one, and the summer one. The first one is now, in late January and early February, and hosts one of the most particular and unknown celebrations in Catalonia: the Cos Blanc, a giant confetti battle.
22 tons of confetti and 20 thousand people.
As explained by the city of Salou, the Cos Blanc “is the most genuine expression of Salou’s identity during the winter festival”. It will be on January 3 from 19h., when the Paseo Jaume I of Salou will host a confetti war where 22 tons of cut paper will be used to throw on the attendees.
Last year about 20,000 people attended a party that has its origins in 1981. It was then when the Festival Committee gave it the current format, creating a small parade that over the years would become the Cós Blanc and during which small newspaper clippings were thrown instead of confetti.
According to legend, the Cós Blanc began as a joke between friends who at one point of the party threw pieces of paper at each other. Nowadays it is a consolidated act, the most awaited of the festivities. At a certain moment of the parade, in Ciutat de Reus street and Barcelona street , the procession stops, the music of the floats and the public lighting is turned off and a spectacle of sound, light and confetti begins.
When is the Cos Blanc and how to get to Salou?
The main winter festival of Salou is celebrated on January 2 and 3 in different locations in Salou. The Cos Blanc will be on January 3, from 19h. in the Paseo Jaume I of Salou.
Salou can be reached by train comfortably (and free, with the bonus of RENFE) from Barcelona in an hour’s journey.