Víctor Rodríguez: "Bells are the WhatsApps of yesteryear."

BarcelonaVíctor Rodríguez is part of the first class of the Vall d'en Bas bell-ringing school, a unique initiative that began in 2023 and aims to help preserve and recover the heritage linked to bells, as bell-ringers have been disappearing, and with them, the knowledge of the language and traditional ringing techniques. Rodríguez, despite being young (he is 38 years old), displays a passion and knowledge of this world that doesn't seem typical of his generation, but he assures that interest in bells is not a matter of older people. "At the bell-ringing school, we were a very diverse group, people from all over the country, of different ages, but we had in common our passion and desire to learn," he explains. All the knowledge he has acquired throughout the bell-ringing course is now being applied to his town, La Garriga, where he has cleaned and revitalized the bell tower and enjoys popular support.

Where does your passion for bells come from?

— I really like the church and its traditions. Bells have an important communicative and liturgical weight. And the bell towers in all churches are usually one of the most distinctive elements. Historically, they were also the highest point in the town, giving it a very strong and visible power. They were those places that could be seen from everywhere; you could hear the bells from afar, but at the same time, they were difficult to access because they weren't accessible. Just as the church is open, the bell towers are usually closed, and I think this creates that fascination. On the one hand, it's imposing, and on the other, it's very inaccessible, because it was really reserved for a specific position: bell ringer, a profession that's on the verge of extinction today.

What happened to the bell ringers?

— There are bell ringers, but the vast majority of bell towers today operate automatically. No one goes up to ring the quarters and the hours anymore; instead, the chimes are programmed from the sacristy, and the parish priest presses a button. Even on special occasions, such as a funeral, for example, the button to ring for the dead is pressed. If it's a major festival, for example, the priest also programs it. However, there are some places in Catalonia, such as Cervera or Tarragona, where the bell ringer still rings manually on these special occasions. The bell tower of my town, Garriga, has always fascinated me since I was a child, and I remember being sent a poem that spoke specifically about that bell tower, which had a great impact on me because it explains its function so well. It said that the Garriga bell tower knows how to laugh and cry.

What does it mean?

— The phrase explains all the liturgical and civil functions a bell tower has. It rings for a baptism, a wedding, a funeral, or a fire, for example. It can laugh, it can cry, depending on whether it's a local festival or a funeral. From this, arose the desire to learn more about the town's bell tower and also to restore its condition, which needed cleaning and updating. Like many of the bell towers in Catalonia.

And you decided to enroll in bell ringing school?

— Yes, I started at the bell-ringing school in October 2023. But before that, I had contacted Xavier Pallars, its director, and invited him to give a lecture on the bells of La Garriga, with the intention of restoring their heritage. A year later, I encouraged him to join the first class of bell-ringing school members.

What had you studied before?

— I studied political science. Nothing to do with it. And I have a master's degree in cultural management, but for about twenty years I've been part of the Maurí Foundation, which is dedicated to preserving and disseminating the legacy of Josep Maurí, historian and notary. I'm very involved in the town's social network and I'm also part of the parish as a parishioner and collaborator. I was clear that the town's bell tower was an asset to La Garriga, which is a very rich town, in many ways. And then I thought: you have to be involved here.

How was the course at the bell ringers' school?

— I was one of the first to sign up. In fact, there were still people on the waiting list. Since then, there have been more every year. There we met people from all over Catalonia with a vocation or interest, a love for bell towers. Both for the heritage aspect and for learning about the bells, the ringing, and recovering that knowledge. It's very interesting. We all had a similar idea, which was, "I want to do something for my town's bell tower, but I can't." We had a practical class first thing in the morning, followed by a theoretical class. It was very interesting.

What was the profile of the people?

— Well, it was very diverse. There were boys and girls of different ages, from very different parts of the world... A diverse group of people, fascinated by the world of bells, with very diverse knowledge, but above all, just initial knowledge. And, therefore, above all, with the desire to bring the bell tower of their town, of their parish, back to life. People with the desire to know more and the desire to know how to do it, because desire alone is not enough. The course made us realize that we are not alone, and we had the figure of a guide, Xavier Pallàs, coordinator and great expert, in addition to all the specialists who gave the different theoretical and practical classes.

After a year of the course, what would you say you have learned?

— We've learned a lot, although it was really short. On the one hand, we've learned the language of bells, which are the chimes. Each bell chime is a language. Depending on how you ring and what you ring, it refers to a death, a boy, a girl, a mass, a baptism, a celebration, etc. We've also learned the parts of a bell and a bell tower. We also learned the restoration systems and all the rituals behind it. For example, in the case of inaugurating and blessing a bell, there's a whole ritual. We've learned the inscriptions, the conservation of a bell tower, the technical study of a bell... We've been able to find out who the workshop and the bell-ringer are. We've learned what century the bell is from, who the sponsors are, and what its name is. Because every bell has a name.

Does every bell in Catalonia have a name?

— Yes. There are many names that are repeated. We have many Josefas, Victorias, etc. However, what happened in Catalonia during the Civil War is that a good number of the bells in Catalonia ended up melted down because they were used to make ammunition. After the war, almost everything was made new: 80% of the bell towers were made new, along with their bells. At that time, an entire heritage was lost and a new one was created, which is not even 100 years old.

The bell ringing school is a pretty unique initiative, isn't it?

— Yes. It's a pioneering initiative, I'd say unique. There are bell-ringing schools at the local level, as some towns have preserved their bell-ringing groups, and so they've created a school and passed on their knowledge, but it's at a more local level. A national initiative like this is quite unique. The course has the support of the Girona Bishopric, the Joanetes City Council, and the Higher Institute of Religious Sciences. All of them have accredited the quality of the course. It's a very official proposal.

Historically, bell ringers were always men, but there were also women in the class.

— Yes, yes. Not half, but barely. It's true that the bell ringer traditionally was a man, but nowadays there are women who are very interested. I have a friend who is a bell ringer in Seva, and everything he's learned has come from the village's former bell ringer, who is now over ninety years old. Now he helps her because she's already struggling physically.

QHave you done a job on the bell tower of La Garriga?

— Above all, we're cleaning it and opening it to the public, in addition to starting to ring it. I'm also promoting the heritage of the bells we have. We organized a conference with the daughter of the last bell ringer of La Garriga, who came to share her story and memories. Many people in the town, aged sixty and over, remember the ringing and the figure of the bell ringer who rang the bells manually. We've recovered some old recordings of one of the last bell rings, so we can understand what it sounded like in the 1970s. I've also worked on identifying the bells. Now, when you go up to the bell tower of La Garriga, each bell has a card with information: you know its weight, the year it was cast, its name, and its inscription. We've illuminated it and performed some small, more or less improvised, ringings of the bells with different collaborators.

What do you think about the controversy that has arisen in various towns with people complaining about the sound of the bells?

— We have a country where people can complain and complain about everything. It seems silly to me. I don't understand why that bothers them. I think when these people leave the city, they do so to seek that uniqueness they've lost in the place they're fleeing. And, therefore, what a person can't do when they go somewhere else is pervert it. Because when we go to a town as a tourist, what we want is to see the uniqueness of the place. And, therefore, it makes no sense to complain or prohibit the typical things of the place you're going to. They're doing very well to protect the towns, and it's doing the people a great deal of good to protest and stand up to the absurdities of those in the city who are bothered by all this.

What would you say to those people?

— Bells are a defining heritage element of the landscape in which they are located. And, therefore, they must be protected. They have always been part of it and must remain so. Bells are the WhatsApp from before. And, besides, for most people, they still have a very strong sense of heritage and belonging that perhaps an outsider doesn't share. But this doesn't give you the right to destroy a language, to smother a tradition. I know many people who find bells keep them company. And they give them a lot of life.