In desperate situations, desperate measures. Toni Clapés and his Versió RAC1 team went yesterday, the day of Our Lady of Montserrat, to the magical mountain of Catalonia to make an urgent prayer to La Moreneta: that it rain and that the drought that is affecting the country and that has left the reservoirs at 25% of their capacity.
The special edition was broadcast live from the Plaza de Santa Maria in the Monastery of Montserrat. Marc Serra opened the program from there while Toni Clapés -accompanied by Txabi Franquesa, Guillem Estadella, Marta Pontnou and the coach Xavi Alujas- left Monistrol de Montserrat a little earlier to walk up to the monastery. “The Clapés expedition”, as they called it, arrived shortly before five in the afternoon with certain difficulties. "With the sacrifice we have made, it would have to rain torrentially," exclaimed the presenter and director of Versió RAC1.
Shortly after their arrival, the long-awaited offering of Mr. Marcel·lí and Vicenç Martí to the Virgin of Montserrat took place, but not before discussing which of the two should be made the offering to, if the one in the cave or in the basilica. Finally it was decided to do it in the one in the basilica, “which is the real one”.
Received and accompanied by the rector of the sanctuary, Mr. Marcel·lí and Vicenç Martí emotionally asked the Virgin of Montserrat: “Make it rain abundantly in the Principality but without doing any harm”. They left him some flowers and after realizing that they had no money, they lit a candle "and let Clapés pay for it later."
Participating in the program were, among others, Efrem de Montellà and Xavier Caballé, heads of the Choir and the museum, respectively. The reunion with Montse Llussà, one of the usual voices in the space who had been out for a year due to cancer, was also a particularly emotional moment. And to finish, she wanted to count on the performance of the group called Arribar i ploure, made up of Àlex Pujols and Ricard Farré. A whole declaration of intent that will have to be seen in the coming days if it is successful.
