Barcelona… what a beautiful city with such a rich cultural heritage. Amazing food, amazing people. This was my first homage to Spannabis since 2019 and while a lot of things have changed, some have stayed the same. The main thing that stayed the same is the fact that weed is still illegal. Even though Barcelona has basically become little California with the availability of most desired major brands in most social clubs, that does not mean that people can move like they do in California. Police do not need probable cause to search you. According to Spanish law, the use of cannabis products is decriminalized for personal cultivation and use, and other purposes other than sale or trade. It’s illegal for trade or commercial purposes. AKA that does not mean you can smoke freely on the street or have any amount of anything on you; at the very least you’ll catch a fine. Spanish legislation states that the consumption or possession of “toxic drugs, narcotics or psychotropic substances, even if they are not intended for trafficking, in places, roads, establishments public or public transport” is considered as a serious offense, and imposes a fine ranging from EUR 600 to EUR 30,000. The police tried to gang-stalk me walking 3 meters from my taxi into my Airbnb at 3 AM one night. I saw them coming down my street, flip a bitch, and park not far from me. I already had my keys in my hand and I heard them whistle like a construction worker would catcall a woman on the street. I, of course, did not look up, and in fact have never opened a door so quickly in my life. I ran up the stairs and proceeded to look out of my window and saw them posted up looking at my building. I had only a personal amount on me but would rather spend that EUR 600 on more constructive things, not to mention my idea of personal use may not fit their criteria of a personal amount. What a strange little game of cat and mouse. According to the powers of the internet, there are over 450 cannabis social clubs in Spain and they are supposed to be for residents only. I very much enjoy smoking at these places but much prefer them when every clout jockey from around the globe are not present. Honestly everything about this series of events is absolute madness which is not a bad thing but can be a lot. I personally enjoy all of the excitement.
Strange Seeds
Spannabis is an event that attracts both the best breeders in the world, and also the shadiest, no integrity having salesmen that would rerock their own mothers for a few bucks over a three day weekend in Europe. My personal highlights were meeting @karmagenetics, @grounded_genetics, and seeing my friends @ciphergenetics, @nyceeds718, @piffcoastfarms, @fidelsworldwide, @serge_cannabiss, @terphogz_offficial, @doja.pak (@dukeofdoja) and my personal favorite breeder of all time @nineweeksharvest. So many more to name here but enough name dropping lets get to the real. Selling “white label” seeds in fancy packaging is much easier than selling white label pack in fancy packaging. Seeds have no distinguishable characteristics besides tiger stripes and all of the packs are usually sealed. What’s to stop even the biggest names in the game from sourcing any old bullshit and giving it some fake lineage on a mylar then running said mylar through the sealer so you couldn’t even check them if you tried—not that you would find out what they actually are by looking at them. The average Spain resident makes about EUR 12,000 per year. Selling fake nonsense at an astronomical ticket is so disrespectful to the country of Spain and entire game, it’s crazy to me that allegedly reputable people would try such a thing. Selling seeds is essentially selling dreams and not even a magician could sell hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of made up folklore crosses with fake names. The top breeders gear will herm under the wrong conditions, and as my good friend @masonicsmoker4.0 always says, if it herms it’s because people can’t grow for shit and it’s all user error. On a serious note, to expect to germinate a seed and immediately flower it and not have a terrible experience is a ridiculous concept. In my experience the process should be to pop the seed, clone it, cull the seed start, then flower clones from your new mothers. In other words, flower and hunt through your generation two clones to see a more realistic expression of the plant. Also when hunting, I think its very important to be hyper critical and be prepared to throw 99% of new gear in the trash bin; they all can’t be winners just because you took the time and spent the money to pop and hunt. Shout out to everyone putting in the work to push the culture forward, especially regarding genetics.
The Popularity Contests
I love hash. I love rosin. However, I do not love seeing the same strains win every competition especially from the same group of people. Everyone has an opinion on how these things should be judged, how people should be smoking, how people should be judging, who should be judging… To me it’s becoming too obvious that some people care soooo much to the point they’re going to make sure that they win, and if they don’t win they’re going to make sure their friends win. This is not a personal attack on anyone or any competition. If you love this plant enough to physically wash it in damn near freezing conditions, let alone all of the prep work, packaging and everything else involved, especially actually growing it yourself… you are in fact a crazy person and we can be friends. I was contemplating not saying any of this for political reasons but it needs to be said. Variety is the spice of life and as much as I too love these winning strains I find it extremely one-sided to continue to see the same patterns.
In Conclusion
Spannabis and its surrounding events are world-class and unlike anything I’ve ever experienced in the U.S. If you’ve never been, go. Just be careful. I would suggest spending some time before or after the events just to see how Barcelona is without every cannabis personality at every single event taking up precious oxygen. Travel around Europe a little as well if you can take the time to do so. Thank you to everyone that made this trip memorable.
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