By AYAAN SOORMA, age 10 and INDYKIDS Staff
Nowadays we use devices to communicate and talk to each other. But in Spain, there is an effort to bring back a way of communicating used many years ago. Ringing church bells was a very popular way to communicate in Spain in the past. In 2022, UNESCO added manual bell ringing (bell ringing by hand) to its “Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity” list for Spain. According to UNESCO, “Over the centuries, bell ringing has served as a means of expression and communication in Spain, fulfilling a number of social functions.” Bell ringing was used to signal many events like natural disasters, celebrations or just community gatherings.
Although bell ringing isn’t in wide use, the loud sound still attracts people. Because technology has advanced, many churches have automated bell ringing systems instead of having them rung by hand. People learn about major events from their phones or by watching the news on TV. But special schools and individuals interested in the tradition of bell ringing are trying to bring it back because it is a way to gather people together in real life and be social. One such school, the Vall d’en Bas School of Bell Ringers in Spain, just graduated its first class of 18 students who learned how to ring bells by hand, which involves pulling heavy ropes and learning the difference between certain sounds, what they mean, and how to make them.
Xavier Pallàs, the founder and director of Vall d’en Bas School of Bell Ringers, told the Associated Press, “This is a means of communication that reaches everyone inside a local community and can help it come together at concrete moments. That can include a death in the community or the celebration of a holiday. It can help mark the rituals that we need.”
