Xavier Marcé took a stroll through Celler de Gelida, at number 65 Vallespir street, and, coincidentally or not so much, Antoni Falgueras, owner of this 131-year-old winery now run by his son Ferran, was there. The Culture councilor would undoubtedly take some wine, and at the moment of paying the bill, things must have gone more or less like this:
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– By the way, Toni, how would you like to be this year’s Mercè town crier?
“I do very well in my shop, ask me anything you want and I’m sure I’ll answer you. But speaking in front of so many people, I wasn’t sure about it.” The 78-year-old veteran ‘botiguer’ from Sants didn’t feel capable of living up to what an event of this magnitude demands, in the Saló de Cent, with the whole city attentive to his words. It was necessary to activate the mayor’s card. Jaume Collboni called the winemaker. “I couldn’t say no anymore.” This Wednesday, the City Council officially presented him as the town crier for the main festival, which will open with an emotional tribute to local businesses.
Falgueras set a condition for the mayor: that his daughter, the sommelier Meritxell Falgueras, accompany him. Deal done. It will be the ideal icing on the cake for Barcelona’s European capital of local commerce status this year. And it will be, looking ahead to the elections on May 23, 2027, a passionate defense of the city’s fragile identity. Father and daughter, at an event in the gardens of Palauet Albéniz, thanked for the opportunity to highlight “the commerce that listens to you, that helps you, that accompanies you,” something that does not happen, they pointed out, with supermarkets or with online shopping.
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Celler de Gelida celebrates 131 years of existence this year. Its origin dates back to 1895. Using a cart, Toni’s great-grandfather used to bring wine and some vegetables from Gelida, in Alt Penedès, to the city. Today they continue to dispatch from number 65 Vallespir, the shop where both Toni and his father were born. “We didn’t even have time to give birth,” joked the 78-year-old veteran winemaker.
The presentation of the town crier coincided this Wednesday with the 50th wedding anniversary of Toni Falgueras and Maria Febrer. The grandmother, her relatives explained, stayed home “taking care of the grandchildren.” Meanwhile, Ferran, the couple’s other son, continues to be in charge of opening the shop’s shutter every morning.
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