Why a Basilisk?
In 2026, La Salle reaches 120 years of presence in Tarragona. To mark it, Associació La Salle Tarragona will build and give the city a new Basilisk figure for the Seguici Popular (popular procession). The project grows from a simple idea: after 120 years as part of the city, we want to give back what it has given us.
Who is behind the project: Associació La Salle Tarragona
Associació La Salle Tarragona is not the school. It is a non-profit organisation in its own right, founded in 1918 and made up of former pupils, current pupils, parents and supporters. It grows out of the La Salle family, but has its own life, board and voice, devoted to culture, faith and commitment to the city.
For more than a century, the Association has taken an active part in the city's life —Holy Week, the Pastorets at the Teatre Metropol, publications and cultural events—, always alongside the school but as an independent body. The Basilisk is the latest chapter of that commitment: an initiative of the Association for the whole city.
120 years of La Salle in the city
On 1 October 1906, the Brothers of the Christian Schools opened the first La Salle college in Tarragona, on Carrer Rebolledo, with 15 pupils and the support of canon Benet Vidal. The Tarragona that welcomed them was a small city of some 23,000 people, still enclosed by its walls. In that city where almost everyone knew one another, La Salle took root.
As Tarragona grew, La Salle grew with it. From Carrer Rebolledo to the Sagrat Cor college and Estanislau Figueres, and later to the new sites of Torreforta (1961) and Sescelades (1971), the La Salle presence kept pace with the city's great demographic leap. Grandparents, parents and children have shared teachers, playgrounds and classrooms: a fabric of families, neighbourhoods and traditions that reaches far beyond the classroom. In 2006, marking the centenary, the City Council recognised this with the city's Gold Medal.
Giving back what the city has given us
The Basilisk is the backbone of this celebration: a tangible, lasting contribution to Tarragona's festive heritage and to the Santa Tecla festivities, declared a Heritage Festival of National Interest. It is the Association's way of thanking, on behalf of the whole La Salle family, the city that has welcomed it for 120 years.
Why the Basilisk
The Basilisk is a figure of the festive bestiary documented in Tarragona Cathedral since the 14th century, on a cloister capital and in the decoration of the sacristy. Today it is not present in the city's Seguici. Recovering it means Tarragona will be the only city in Europe with a complete bestiary: the Drac, the Bou, the Víbria, the Griu, the Àliga, the Mulassa, the Cucafera, the Lleó and the Basilisk.
Knowing popular culture
By creating the Basilisk and bringing it into the procession and the city's festivals, the Association brings Tarragona's popular culture closer to the pupils, teachers and families of the La Salle schools in Sant Pere i Sant Pau and Torreforta.
Social cohesion
The project brings both schools into the city's celebrations and strengthens the bond between the school community and the social fabric of their neighbourhoods.
Education in values
Building and carrying the Basilisk is a lesson in cooperation, respect for heritage and pride in one's own identity: learning, by working together, the value of preserving local history.
Living heritage
Recovering the Basilisk is not only about restoring part of Tarragona's festive heritage, but about ensuring that its figure and meaning endure in the city's collective memory.