Pinya

Right, first sorry to Emma for re-visiting her topic on ‘Els Pets.’ I hadn’t seen it had already been done :s

I suppose you’ve all seen the bank/building society advert where the employees tower on top of each other?! And then the customers and a dog walk along. I think it might be for Halifax? Well...in Cataluña it’s a tradition! Well, sort of...it’s called...the ‘Pinya.’ Cool? I know.

From 100-300 people are needed to build a human castle. In a rugby scrum style technique, people interlock arms and climb on top of each other. In order to complete the fantastic spectacle, two children, generally under the age of 5, climb on top. This creates the Pom de Dalt (the apple on top).

There are human castle performances, celebrations and even teams! In total there are 65 teams in Cataluña, including in the Balearic Islands. As in most major sports, there is a specific time of year when it is ‘played.’ It runs from April to November, and during this period there are tournaments for all teams. As with other sports, there is training, which is usually two nights a week and lasting for two hours. Pretty strenuous stuff!

Historically, it’s thought that this phenomenon originated from an 18th century Valencian folk dance. The typical traits of the pinya represent strength, cohesion, passion and team building which could be a good way to describe Catalonian national identity.

Fancy joining a ‘colle’? (Team) In Cataluña it’s a real way to network and meet new people. So if you have your year out in Barcelona, you know what to do!

Cheers, Jared

Barcelona to relive its dreams!!

I was reading many articles in the Spanish news, and I found this article about Barcelona's bid for 2022 Winter Olympics to relive its Olympic Dreams previously.

Barcelona's mayor Jordi Hereu made the announcement on 13th January 2010, saying the city is ready to host this spectacular event. He went on to say that 'Barcelona-Pyrenees' has become an official candidate with the Spanish Olympic Committee, who will decide in 2014, which Spanish city will host the games. The community of Aragon has also expressed interest in being a host city.


According to Hereu, "Barcelona has an excellent chance of winning the 2022 bid, which would see the city share the events with various ski resorts in Catalunya's Pyrenees."

Should Barcelona win the bid for the 2022 Winter Games, it would coincide with the 30th anniversary of the city's hosting of the 1992 Olympic Games, which was responsible for the huge transformation of the city's port area.

Barcelona's bid for the 2022 games was put together after Madrid lost out in its bid for the 2016 Olympic Games.
http://www.thinkspain.com/news-spain/17529/barcelona-to-bid-for-2022-winter-olympics

Thanks
Sian xx

Catalonia Webcam

My sister has as her internet homepage a live webcam of Times Square, New York. This got me wondering wether there was something similar for Catalonia. My first thought was La Rambla in Barcelona but I couldn't find anything like that :(. I did, however, find this page from TV3 which shows images from around 16 different locations in Catalonia.

My favourite has to be that of a very snowy Cabdella in the Pyrenees.








Along with the beautiful image of Barcelona's Port Olímpic at night.








Becky X

La Selecció

Happy New year everyone :)

Whilst reading the post on the ‘senyera’ I noticed that it spoke of the 'Catalan national team'. I just assumed it was referring to Barcelona, however it reminded me of a match I saw a few years ago, Catalonia Vs The Basque country. Naturally resorting straight to wikipedia :) I found that Catalonia does in fact have an official national team!

The team is organised by the Catalonia Football federation but sadly has no affiliation with FIFA because the Spanish federation always kicks up a fuss when they try to join (they don't want to loose their best players). Even though 'La selecció', as it is referred to, can't compete in the World or European cup; ever since 1904 the team has played over 200 international matches.

They beat Argentina 4-2 only last month in a friendly!

It is a shame that Catalonia can't compete in the prestigious competitions, surely the same logic applied in the UK can be used in Spain. Wales, Scotland and northern Ireland all have their own teams in FIFA. However, Catalonia with its nationalistic survivalist ways continues to apply for membership to FIFA. Fingers crossed!

In November last year, Johan Cruyff became the coach, with the addition of such a Infamous name to the side who knows what the future holds for La Selecció.
John x.

http://www.fcf.cat/pub/selecciones.asp

'Hommage to Catalonia'?

Despite it being one of George Orwell's most famous work, I have never read Homage to Catalonia and so wondered where the title for his work came from! I thought I'd do some research, and will do a bit of a mini-biography on Orwell and his connections to Catalonia.

Orwell went to Spain in December 1936 to fight in the Civil War on the side of the Republicans, and much of his service and time spent in Spain centered on Barcelona and Catalonia. Being of communist persuasion, he was much impressed on his arrival by the fact that Barcelona was a a "town where the working class was in the saddle", declaring when he signed up "I've come to fight fascism". His preliminary training took place on the hill of Montjuic (now the site of the olympic stadium and facilities) and he learnt the skills required for Geurilla warfare. He fell in love with the Catalan people, writing; “I defy anyone to be thrown as I was among the Catalan working class and not be struck by their essential decency; above all their straightforwardness and generosity."

He was then sent to the front in Arragon where, given his previous training as a police officer and in the cadet corps, he was rapidly promoted to the post of Corporal. The months spent in Arragon saw little action and much hardship, given the lack of supplies and equipment and hostility of the mountainous terrain, and he returned to Barcelona in April hoping to join the International Brigades with the intention of seeing more action around Madrid. However, the revolutionary atmosphere Orwell had so admired on arriving in Barcelona had disappeared by the time he returned, and in its place he discovered a far more politicised and polarised city with frictions between various groups. The in-fighting that broke out has become known as the "May Days" and the accusations that the communist group POUM (with whom Orwell had felt most affinity) had betrayed the cause and collaborated with Franco's forces were to have a major effect on the author. He was so put off by the situation that he decided to abandon his plan to join the International Brigades and to return to Arragon.

This was, however, to be his last action in the conflict. Orwell was far taller than most of his Spanish comrades and had been warned against standing on trench parapets. He seems to have forgotten this, however, when he stepped up to address his men and was shot in the throat by an enemy sniper. He was transported back to barcelona and, although his life was saved, he was declared unfit for service. by this time the POUM had been outlawed in the city and Orwell's connections with the group meant that him and his wife had to lie low until they were able to escape the country.

Despite his experiences and disenchantment with the Civil War, Orwell was clearly enamoured with the Catalan area and people and speaks highly of them in his work, lamenting the fact that so many great men and women died for nothing. His affection was evidently reciprocated by the Catalan people, and the Placa de George Orwell is now a popular square in Barcelona.

Chris

Let It Snow ...

It looks like that us Brits aren't the only ones who are experiencing freezing temperatures and frequent snow at the moment!

I've just been taking a look over several Catalan newspapers and a couple of sites, and it seems that a number of Catalan provinces have been affected by heavy snowfalls over the past week.

After strong flurries of snow, which have since acted as a 'freezer' very low temperatures have been recorded: -7.2 º Margalef (Priorat), -6,9 º in Prades (Baix Camp) and -6.2 º in the Panadella (Anoia)for example. According to the Meteorological Service of Catalonia (SMC), the lowest temperature recorded so far has been in Vielha and Mijaran at -12.1 º. They still are a fair way away from Britain's lowest temperature though, the mercury has plunged to a bone-chilling -22.3C (-8.1F) in the Highland village of Altnaharra recently!

According to forecasts, over the next few days Catalunya is expected to see upto 10 inches of snow, with maximum gusts of 75 mph in Barcelona and Girona.

Just to show you the effect of the snow fall in Catalunya, I came across a recent story from Barcelona - a woman gave birth early this morning at the gates of the Clinique La Aliança de Lleida after snow caused severe delays. The snow hampered her movement in an ambulance from her home in Les Borges Blanques (Lleida) despite being escorted by Catalan Police and Emergency Medical Services (EMS) in an SUV!

http://www.barcelonareporter.com/index.php?/news/comments/a_woman_has_given_birth_today_at_the_gates_of_the_clinique_la_alianca_de_ll/

Young children have also been enjoying the snow. In the Catalunya region centred on Barcelona snow prevented 72 schools from reopening after the Christmas vacation, providing an extra day off for more than 16,000 children.

It's not a lot of fun for the adults though as more than a dozen main roads are closed across Catalunya because of the bad weather, especially in the regions of Tarragona and Girona.

It appears that Catalunya seems to be coping just as well as we are! ;]

Christina x.

Catalan in Italy

Catalan's influence in my home country!
Happy New Year everyone!!

As it has just been Christmas, my house as usual has been full of Italians! We got talking a bit about my course and how I’m studying Catalan as well as Spanish, so I thought I would take it upon myself to research a bit into Catalan spoken in Italia! Catalan is spoken in Sardinia in the region of Alghero, or in Catalan, Alguer.

I find the history of Alghero fascinating. The Genoans were in control about 1000 years ago until the 12th Century when in 1353 a Spanish fleet sailed in causing a massive sea battle. They won, giving control to the Catalans for 400 years.

King Pedro IV of Aragon first of all called the town “Barcelonetta” and threw the original Algherese out of their homes to replace them with Catalan families. The Sardinians were treated as 2nd Class citizens in their own country and Catalan was made the language of the government. However, in the 16th Century, Sardinia fell to Italy and the decline in the use of Catalan began.

Despite this, there are now around 18,000 speakers of Catalan in Sardinia, with 16,000 of these living in Alghero (41% of the Alghero population). The language of Catalan has been kept alive in Sardinia by the teaching of it in some secondary schools. The TV station “Catalan TV” also broadcasts in Alghero and “Radio Sigma” is another Catalan radio station that broadcasts in Catalan.

Throughout Alghero, the history of Catalan is everywhere. Streets are called “carrer” rather than “via” and “plaça” rather than “piazza”. But, it is the older generations that speak Catalan mostly, with the young Sardinians speaking their local Italian/Sardinian dialect. This is quite sad as it shows that Catalan seems to be dying out.

As Italy was only united about 150 years ago with help from the hero Giuseppe Garibaldi! Italy as a nation has a lot of different identities, shown through the regions where they live and the dialects that they use. Sardinia has even more of a complex identity with the background of Catalan, yet I think that this shows the true magic of Italy and the strength of the Catalan language.

Thanks, Chiara

Ba ba da da da da!!.........

Of course, as the title suggests, i'm singing along to 'XL' a song by the pop-rock group 'Els Pets.'

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vaQaHxynAYE

So this is Catalan Music....what do you think? In my opinion this band is a little bit clichéd but it makes for easy listening. (Sorry if they're your favourite band Laia.) And you've got to hand in to them, of the four major 'Rock Català' groups of the early 90's, they are the only to have survived, outliving ‘Sopa de Cabra’, ‘Sau’ and ‘Sangtrait.’

They were formed in 1985 – in Constantí and the band makes up Lluís Gavalda, (singer/guitar)Joan Reig (drums) and Falin Cáceres (bass.) They name their genuine substyle 'Rock agrícola' (agricultural rock) as they formed as a protest against the popular music of the city.
Therefore, they began doing concerts in the surrounding villages, coinciding in many occasions with the local celebrations.

Their songs are inspired by everyday stories and are rich in melancholic yet life-affirming lyrics. For example the song about the chemical factories in El Tarragonès. It acts as a source of inspiration and a motive of environmental criticism in songs like 'Tarragona M'esborrona' (Tarragona horrifies me)

They've released 11 albums and are linked in the UK to bands such as The Jam.

If you get the chance, have a listen to 'No tornaràs.' It's probably their best - in my opinion.

Cheers, Jared

Jordi Solé Tura

I’m sure everyone is now in full swing of their revision?! Well as I stumbled across my Spanish notes I started learning about the Spanish Constitution of 1978. After doing a bit of background reading I discovered that Jordi Solé Tura, once leader of the Catalan communist party ‘PSUC’, sadly passed away December just gone. Jordi Tura was interestingly, one of the seven people who drew up the post-Franco constitution. Due to this he was a respected figure in Catalan society and I shall further explore his life in general.

He was the son of a bakers, born and bred (excuse the pun) in a small town in the outskirts of Barcelona. Jordi was late in starting his degree, at the age of 21, but used it go into politics. Before joining PSUC in 1957, he spent almost 20 years in underground work against the dictatorship of Franco. In 1960 he went into exile in Paris. He later left PSUC to become a lecturer at Barcelona University. He formed a student based group at the university which were highly strung over their views of the regime. He was imprisoned because of this in 1969.

He rejoined PSUC after his jail sentence and saw in the constitution alongside fascists such as Manuel Fraga, Franco’s ex-minister. Through the constitution, Jordi made sure that every Spaniard was entitled to a house and a job. In 1985 he left PSUC before joining the Spanish socialist party in 1989 and was elected in with them and stayed until 2000. Sadly, he developed Alzheimer's disease and eventually died in December 2009.

I feel the story of a baker’s son, who led a turbulent life in politics, epitomizes the ups and downs of the Catalan history. Nevertheless, his eventual impact upon Spain through the constitution highlights the strength of Catalonia.

Cheers, Jared

Happy new year everyone! Hope you all had a lovely Christmas!

Even though Christmas has been and gone I got thinking about Christmas in Spain and I remembered that our Christmas day, being the 25th of December, isn't exactly the same in Spain. They celebrate on the 6th January. As Spain is traditionally a very religious country the three wise men are very important. They are seen everywhere in Spain at Christmas, and people from all walks of life dress up as them.

I found an article off the website for the city of Barcelona ( Ajuntament de Barcelona, www.bcn.es), about the festivities there but I can't seem to paste the information so I will have to just summarise it:

It was posted on the 5th January and say that the mayor of Barcelona Jordi Hereu greeted the three kings, Melchior, Gaspar and Balthasar. It says the Mayor handed each of the three Kings the key to the city so that they could enter every household in Barcelona during the night and deliver their gifts to every child. Thousands of people braved the rain, unwilling to miss the chance to see the procession and to hand the Kings their letters.

I will have to look more and see whether the Three Kings in Spain are an equivalent to Father Christmas here in Britain but I like the idea of how festive it all seems and how everybody gets involved in the streets.


Andrea xxx

A late festive post!

Happy new year, as it's the time of year when we all like to have a few drinks with our families, I thought I would write about something that is appropriate, even though it happened in October.

The thing we like to call "Happy Hours" or special offers on alcoholic drinks are no more in the Catalonia region from 16th October 2009, in order to reduce late night drinking. This will come as news for party-goers, football fans and other European tourists who are enticed by the special drinks offers, visiting the region.

This law has been introduced so that the youth decrease the amount they drink. But will it work?

I just wonder whether this is needed in Spain, as they drink to be social, and it is more rational and under control, unlike in many other countries in Europe. Either way, I don't think it will stop tourists visiting the region, as I have experienced, there is more to do in Spain than just party.


http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/party-over-catalonia-bans-happy-hour-1803652.html

Sian xx

red and yellow..red and yellow...red and yellow

Happy New Year all! And with all these warnings of snow, a warning of my own, “No mengis neu groga!” hmm...anyway... I am aiming to venture away from my usual blogs where I digress about anything Barcelona and football in general. Despite this it is getting harder to find original topics.

Nevertheless I shall talk about a symbol of Cataluña which I believe hasn’t previously been touched upon; the ‘senyera’ or to us beginners of the language, the flag.
It is based on the coat of arms of the Crown of Aragon which palpably represented the King of Aragon himself. Not only is this flag used for the Catalonian cities of Spain but also on a quarter of the coat of arms in Andorra, for the French municipal Pyrénées-Orientales, and the flag of the pays of Rousillon. Of course the flag doesn’t simply represent Spanish cities but all places of Cataluña.

It is one of the oldest flags to date however it was not continuous in its use...of course it was banned under the regime of Franco as was anything else autonomous. Despites this it has survived the times and is still in use in modern day. There are a variety of the flag used for different municipals and these can be seen on the link below. (Sorry for the use of Wikipedia :s) My personal favourite is from Aragon, not that there is a great difference between them all. It’s also interesting to see that the Catalan football team’s kit is the same pattern and colours...argh thats definitely football again.

On that note I shall end the blog. In these grim times you could think of the warm colours of the Catalan flag to brighten up your day?! ...or not I suppose

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Senyera

Manuel Vazquez Montalban

Hi! feliç any nou!
For my next blog I'm going to write about the Catalan author Manuel Vazquez Montalban born in Barcelona (1939-2003). He also lived in Barcelona, he is known for being a journalist, novelist, a gourmet and a great Barcelona FC fan.
I came across his work when i got one of his books,"Offside" for christmas. The book features his creation Pepé Carvalho, a fast-living gourmet private detective. "Offside" tells the story of Jake Mortimer, Europena footballer of the year, bought by Barcelona FC, who soon recieves death threats when he joins the club. The book also tells about the dangerous underground gangster life of Barcelona. I've only read the first chapter so far but it's quite good and I think it'll be a good read. Montalban gives extensive descriptions of catalan cuisine, which i look forward to reading, Pan amb tomaquet was mentioned in the first paragraph.
Montalban has written many other novels starring Pepé Carvalho as well as various essays articles. Montalban won both the Spanish Planeta Prize and the French Grand Prix of Detective Fiction for his thrillers, which are translated into all major languages.
Thanks for reading, see you all soon, Freddy.