This here’s the Rubber Duck

There’s more than the one; there are hundreds of rubber ducks (more plastic than rubber, to be accurate) for capture in Can Picafort.

Some 3,000 people go in pursuit of them - swimming, on lilos, in dinghies. Many of the ducks are numbered, and these are entered into a raffle. The Duck Swim has taken place since the 1930s. Since 2007, real ducks have been banned, although some were released in the first years of the prohibition.

There are other duck swims, e.g. Colonia Sant Jordi, but they don’t have the tradition of Can Picafort, which is said to come from ducks being let go in the sea for workers to try and capture (and later consume). The swim in Can Picafort is one of the great events of the summer, the attention it attracts partly lying with an interest in seeing if anyone dares release real ducks from the boats that throw the ducks into the sea.

The swim is a highlight for the climax of the Mare de Déu d’Agost Fiestas, another being the spectacular pyromusical fireworks display at midnight