Camiseta con parche del tamborilero catalán – símbolo de tradición e identidad

On 6 June 1808, in the first days of the War of Independence, a French column of about 3,800 soldiers, commanded by General François de Schwartz, left Barcelona and set out for the El Bruc pass, at the foot of Montserrat mountain. Their destination was Lleida, but the road wound through steep slopes where the local inhabitants were already waiting for them: blacksmiths, millers, monks… some 2,000 people, modestly armed but united by a sincere desire for freedom.

At dawn the offensive began. At that moment, on a rocky ledge, a young shepherd appeared with a drum covered in goatskin. Legend has it his name was Isidre Lluçà i Casanovas. He struck the drum—once, twice, three times. The sound echoed among the mountains and came back amplified, as if an entire battalion were playing. This created the illusion of a great force approaching. The French soldiers, surprised and wary, slowed their pace, and at that instant the Catalans launched the attack. The column was defeated—and that victory became one of the first on the road of resistance.

Since then, the legend says the victory was not achieved with weapons, but with the strength of the spirit, the sound of the drum, and the echo of the Montserrat mountains.

In 1953 a monument to the Timbaler was erected in El Bruc’s main square: a young man raising his drumsticks to the sky. On the pedestal can be read:

«No va ser un miracle, però hi vam creure»
(“It was not a miracle, but we believed in it”)

Every year, on 6 and 7 June, El Bruc relives its history: more than four hundred participants with drums and period costumes re-enact the battle with enthusiasm, and children and adults parade through the streets making their drums resound.

The echo of Montserrat roars once more through the valley, remembering that day when the strength of the spirit and the love of freedom united the people against adversity.