The love story between Igualada and balloons goes back a long way. In 1980, three Igualadins emulated Jules Verne's novel Five Weeks with Balloons and crossed the African continent in a hot air balloon. They were the same ones who, when they returned, created Ultramagic, a company from Iguala that today is a leader in the design and manufacture of balloons, with an annual production approaching a hundred units. Precisely, one of his latest creations was premiered yesterday in the inaugural flight of the 27th edition of the European Balloon Festival. It is a basket, which they have named "romantic", with only two seats for passengers and one for the pilot.
It meets the demand of couples who want to have a romantic date in the sky. The basket, with a door, allows the two travelers to fly comfortably seated and enjoy spectacular views – thanks to a low rail – while they do a tasting, which in its debut was of cava. The couple who premiered it were the young people from Iguala, Joan Ponsà and Marta Barrabeig, who are getting married this July. The romantic balloon has taken off with a heart-shaped candle.
About forty hot air balloons, some coming from the United States, India, Tunisia, Dubai, Turkey, Austria, England, Luxembourg or Monaco, will fly until Sunday at the European Balloon Festival, the most important hot air balloon festival in the south of 'Europe.
This year's novelties also include a drone night show that will be about the theme of balloons, which will draw a three-dimensional story in the sky with a hundred flying contraptions thanks to a state-of-the-art technology that synchronizes movement, lighting and soundtrack. The show refers to the forty years of history of the Igualada company Ultramagic and Igualada's relationship with balloons. It can be seen on Saturday night, it will be completed with the traditional Night Glow, a show of light and color that is one of the events in which more people participate in the festival, and the concert of the singer Triquell, finalist of the first edition of Eufòria .
This year's edition will have, as usual, the traditional morning flights - from Thursday to Sunday - and afternoon flights - from Thursday to Saturday - from Central Park, except for the take-off today, Friday, which it is carried out from several squares in the city. The flights will coexist throughout the day with around thirty fun and cultural activities inside wind igloos (recycled balloon canvases) installed in some central points of the capital of the Anoia region.
Igualada is, most likely, the city with the most hot air balloon pilots per population. There are currently 27 licensed pilots, 31 registered balloons and three companies that carry out almost daily flights, in addition to the world leader in the manufacture of hot air balloons: Ultramagic. All this makes Igualada a benchmark for the European airport.
