Stuff Catalans Do: Llobregat
Llobregat “The land of seven harvests” was how the agricultural area of the Delta del Llobregat (lyoobrehGATT) south-west of Barcelona was known historically, thanks to its great fertility, plentiful water and mild climate. Now, this area, the Baix (Bash = Lower) Llobregat, is mostly an ugly and cluttered sprawl given over to industrial estates and […]
Stuff Catalans Do: K
Catalans don’t really do K. It’s the 11th letter of the Catalan alphabet but is only used in words of foreign origin, from kafkià to kuwaitià. According to the rule book, the k- sound before –i and –e is represented in written Catalan by qu- as in quilogram, quilòmetre, quilovat, etc, but these weights and […]
Stuff Catalans Do: Jaume 1, Joan, Jordi, Julivert
Jaume 1 Metro station in downtown Barcelona, named after Jaume el Conqueridor (James I of Aragon, aka the Conquerer). Pronounced JOWmeh (as in jowl) preeMEH, Jaume 1 (1208 to 1276) was the longest reigning Iberian monarch, King of Aragon, Count of Barcelona, and Lord of Montpellier from 1213 to 1276; King of Mallorca from 1231 […]
Stuff Catalans Do: IGP, Informàtic, Ioga
Indicació Geogràfica Protegida Chickens (possibly headless) flapping and clucking along the runway amongst the aircraft: this was the image, still indelible, that popped into my head the first time I heard the name Pollastre del Prat. El Prat de Llobregat is the municipality on the Llobregat Delta where Barcelona’s El Prat airport was built, but […]
Stuff Catalans Do: Havaneres
Havaneres “My grandad went to Cuba On board the Català The best warship Of the overseas fleet. The helmsman and the skipper And fourteen sailors Were born in Calella Were born in Palafrugell.” This is my literal translation of the first verse of the havanera El Meu Avi (My Grandfather) a song known by almost […]
Stuff Catalans Do: Gegants, Generalitat, Girona
Gegants The giants of Catalonia are not the kind of horrid monsters of fairy-tale and legend that gave us childhood nightmares, but huge figures of men and women that are paraded around at just about every local fair and festival. Most towns and city neighbourhoods have their own giants, forming a great network across Catalonia, […]
Stuff Catalans Do: FC Barcelona
FC Barcelona Having married into a family of cradle-to-grave Barcelona supporters, Football Club Barcelona, aka el Barça, is naturally one of the main threads in the tapestry of my life here. My sons were carted to the home matches at the Camp Nou by their dad and grandad almost before they could walk. During summers […]
Stuff Catalans Do: Ebre, Esqueixada, Escalivada
Ebre I knew that the Riu Ebre was Spain’s longest river. That its delta was an important wildlife reserve. For many years I also ‘knew’ that it was the boundary between Catalonia and ‘the rest of Spain’ (Aragon to the west and the Community of Valencia to the south). Except it isn’t. I honestly don’t […]
Stuff Catalans Do: Denominació d’Origen Protegida
Denominació d’Origen Protegida Hazelnuts from Reus, rice from the Ebro Delta, pears from Lleida, butter and cheese from Alt Urgell and La Cerdanya in the Pyrenees… olive oil from Siurana, Les Garrigues, l’Empordà… sorry, my mouth is watering too much to keep on writing. These are some of the yummy Catalan foods boasting the Protected […]
Stuff Catalans Do: Calçotada, Castellers, Català
Calçotada The calçotada is the Catalans’ favourite gastronomic bash, traditional to the town of Valls and environs, and is the festive outing of choice from November to April. The last Sunday in January the streets and squares of Valls are taken over by sardana dancing, parades of musical bands, giants and bigheads, horse-drawn floats, sauce-making […]