Street in Barcelona becomes Pandora, from the film Avatar

The Carrer (street in Catalan) Progres this week became Pandora, a scene from the film Avatar, for the occasion of the "Festa Major de Gracia" here.

The festival began on Aug. 15 and lasts a week. During this time, the streets of Gracia are decorated with many ornaments following a theme chosen by the neighbors.

In the case of Carrer Progres, the assembly voted to bring Pandora to life. Pandora was the moon or satellite of the planet Polyphemus from the film Avatar by James Cameron.

Eulalia Bargallo, who participated in the decoration efforts, told Xinhua that behind the scenes there was a lot of work to make the figures, flora and fauna look realistic.

"The avatars have the same size they have in the film and plants a bit the same, we tried to be pretty accurate to how they are made. The same with the Toruk Makto," Bargallo said.

The choice of Avatar parallels the labor claims made by workers of Telefonica-Movistar, he said. "We wanted to relate the topic to the so-called blue tide of Movistar, in the film itself, they combat exploitation, (...) we try to get involved with everything happening in the neighborhood and in the city," Bargallo said.

The decorations are made from recycled materials such as newspapers, garbage bags or plastic bottles and jugs. "The hair is plaited handmade wool. There are 600 braids," Bargallo highlighted.

Meanwhile, the work is also based on the values of tolerance, cooperation and respect between people. "The party teaches you many things", Laia Perez, from Carrer Verdi del Mig, said to Xinhua listing tolerance, involvement, respect, cooperation and team bonding as among the values she witnesses in the event.

Barcelona's new mayor, Ada Colau, noted that the festival symbolized the best side of Barcelona such as self-organization, neighbourhood cohesion, and citizen involvement.

Verdi's neighbors took the first prize this year thanks to a decoration inspired by Japan which displayed Toriis, a geisha, a sumo wrestler, a dragon, a cherry blossom and bamboos made of 150 cans each.

This year there are 18 decorated streets. Visitors can enjoy Paris in the 20s, experience the consequences of a nuclear disaster, or hear Vivaldi's Four Seasons, among many others. Endit