About us: the Grup de Diables de l’Espluga de Francolí

A brief history

The Grup de Diables de l’Espluga de Francolí (the Devils’ Group of l’Espluga de Francolí) was founded in 1879, but the war and Franco’s repression made it disappear. It did not return until Saint John’s Eve in 1990, one hundred and eleven years later, when some 25 young people between 17 and 19 brought it back to life and named the association Fills de Satanàs de l’Spelunka Diabòlica (Sons of Satan of the Diabolical Spelunka).

With few resources, those young people got fireproof clothing and percussion instruments, and built several masks to give their performances spectacle and symbolism. Two years later, in 1992, they added the first beast that would accompany the correfocs (fire runs): the Senglar (wild boar), which is still one of the group’s main beasts. Since then the association has kept growing, thanks to the involvement of the generations that have been part of it.

We perform everywhere

We have put on correfocs and performances in countless streets and popular festivals, mostly in towns and cities across Catalonia, but also in Galicia, the Basque Country, Aragon and Splügen, the Swiss town twinned with l’Espluga de Francolí.

The association today

Today we have more than 250 members, including the Colla Gran, the Colla Infantil and our collaborators. The Colla Infantil, a group of little devils and drummers born on Saint John’s Eve in 2014, has been one of the big projects of recent years and is essential for generational renewal.

We are registered in the register of non-profit associations of the Department of Culture of the Generalitat de Catalunya and are a member of the Federació de Diables i Dimonis de Catalunya (Federation of Devils and Demons of Catalonia).

Popular culture and tradition

We are an association of Catalan popular culture. Like so many others, we are the fruit of the country’s tradition of associations and of the will to keep alive traditions, values and the popular festival in the street.

Would you like to get to know us better? Discover the Colla Gran, the Colla Infantil and the bestiary, or become a devil. Would you like to book a correfoc? Write to us.