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The Gràcia festivities are just around the corner and will be accompanied by a unstable weather. Forecasts indicate the entry of heavy rains in Catalonia starting this Tuesday, although they will not reach the central coast until Wednesday 14th. The AEMET has launched two warnings for the possibility of rain and storms during the first day of festivities on the Barcelona coast. The state agency predicts that up to 100,000 km of rain may accumulate. 20mm of water in one hour, with possibilities of hail and strong wind.

On the other hand, the Meteorological Service of Catalonia It has also issued two alerts for the danger of heavy rain, one of category yellow for Wednesday morning and another orange for the afternoon. The rains will arrive in the morning and will cover the entire Catalan territory, although the most intense precipitations are expected to arrive from 8pm onwards.

If deadlines were not met exactly, it could affect the opening speech of the Gràcia festivitiesscheduled for 7 p.m. on the same day, as well as subsequent activities. The precipitation will be accompanied by a stabilization of temperatures that will cool the atmosphere after the last heat wave, with minimum of 24 degrees and maximum of 30.

Although the forecast points to Wednesday as the day with the highest probability of storms, it cannot be ruled out that the precipitation make an appearance again in the following days. weekend the risk of precipitation is reactivated, with a moderate probability according to the Catalan agency, although we will have to wait to know exactly how the forecast progresses.

In this sense, the decorations of the 23 streets and squares participating in the decoration competition in Gràcia must delay as much as possible the placement of the most delicate elements on the street, in order to avoid the storm forecast for the night of Wednesday into Thursday. Another common strategy is to cover them with plastic and rigid protections to prevent them from getting wet.

One of the decorated streets of Gràcia, with plastic protection against the rain in 2010 / Joan Puig

Traditionally, the streets must have all their decorations ready by 9am on 15 August, so that the jury can judge all the scenes and decide on the always controversial classification. In previous years, when there has been a forecast of heavy rain the night before, the foundation that organises the festivities and brings together the neighbourhood committees has agreed to postpone the deadline for having the decorations ready until midday.