Special | Typical Catalan

Here you can read about some really typical Catalan things. Folk Dances, traditional human tower building, playing with fire, bread with tomatoes, the little black dunkey and the day of the loved ones are just some examples.

Correfoc
Catalonia's festivals and traditions unify Catalan society and help to give it its particular character. Amongst the most striking of festive events are the correfocs, in which "devils" play with fire and with the people. These devils are not the incarnation of evil; they are sprightly and festive, dancing to the sound of the tambourine and the traditional gralla, while they set off their fireworks.

Castells
Castells are human towers that are traditionally built during festivals in many places in Catalonia. At these festivals, several colles castelleres (teams) meet and try to build the most impressive towers they can. In Catalan the word castell means castle, although a castell with two persons per level is a torre (tower) and is usually called a pilar if it consists of just one person per level. This tradition has its origins in Valls in the Tarragona province, but has now spread to many parts of Catalonia, and even Mallorca.

Sardanas
There is perhaps nothing more characteristically Catalan than the sardana, the traditional dance. Wherever there are Catalans, there are sardanas. The best opportunities to see sardanas are a village Festa Major. The dancers form a circle which gradually enlarges as more dancers join it. When it becomes too large for the space available, the circle may break into smaller ones or another ring may form within the large one. Among dedicated dancers, the sardana has a well defined etiquette, e.g. as to whether the ring should be broken to the left or to the right of a man. You may see these "purists" in a small, perfectly formed circle apart from the rest, their foreheads held high and their eyes almost closed in an expression of concentration, in harmony with the music and with each other. The music is provided by a cobla, a small group of musicians playing mainly brass instruments. Tambourines provide the rhythm. The flaviol, a small flute with a tone akin to that of the piccolo, gives these bands a characteristic high pitched sound. It is a quintessential part of the Catalan experience.

Pan con tomate
Pa amb tomaquet, bread with tomato, is a very simple but delicious, typical Catalan, recipe. With some basic ingredients and some slices of bread, a classic dish from the gastronomy of this region can be created. It's possible to serve it like an appetizer or as a sandwich to accompany any occasion.

Ingredients: Bread slices / half a tomato for each bread slice / Olive oil / Salt

Preparation: Rub a ripe tomato smoothly but with energy over the slice of toasted bread. When the bread is greased with the tomato, the oil has to be used to cover the bread completely and a pinch of salt has to be added as well. The oil will serve to supply the seasoning, resisting the acidity of the tomato, making the bread juicy and giving the whole its distinct flavor. This bread with tomato is the base for an infinite number of varieties of sandwiches, since it is possible to cover it with other seasonings like cheese or sausage.

Vermut
Served with olives, almonds or potato chips, Fer el vermut, has become a social ritual in Catalunya. In the middle of the last century, the first Spanish vermouths were produced in Catalonia. The ingredients are select wines, usually Moscatel. Up to fifty herbs and spices supply the unmistakable taste, there is wormwood, mugwort, bitter orange, sage, balm mint and nutmeg. Quality, the right mixture, and the maturing process are the most important things in Catalan vermouths, because it is the storage that adds the complex and rounded flavor to the aperitif. The Catalan vermouth pioneers at Yzaguirre in El Morell, near Tarragona, are exemplary in the care they take, and today they still let their vermouths mature three or four years in oak barrels. These vermouth manufacturers, founded in 1884 in the city of Reus, make the traditional red and white vermouths.

11 September
On September 11, Catalonia commemorates the 1714 Barcelona defeat during the War of the Spanish Succession. As a punishment for their support to the claim of Habsburg Archduke Charles to the throne of Spain, institutions and rights of the territories of the Crown of Aragon were abolished by the victorious absolutist Bourbon monarchy. In 1980, the re-established Generalitat of Catalonia, as its first public act proclaimed 11 September the Catalan National Holiday. Organizations and political parties traditionally lay floral offerings at the monuments of Rafael Casanova and General Moragues for their fight against the Bourbon army. Catalanist groups also meet in the Fossar de les Moreres, Barcelona, where they pay homage to the defenders of city who where killed and buried in that place. Throughout the day, there are political demonstrations, concerts and celebration events. Many citizens hang the senyeres and estelades on their balconies. Shops and businesses are normally closed during this day.

Catalan language
Salou and the Costa Dorada are situated in Catalonia, a part of Spain which has a long history and has its own culture. Along with this culture comes a language spoken by all the people in Catalonia and which differs a lot from Spanish. It is the mother tongue of some 5 to 6 million people. Catalan is also spoken in some areas of Aragon and Murcia and, outside Spain, in the French Roussillon region, the Principality of Andorra and in the Italian city of Alguer (Sardinia). Children in school are taught in Catalán and the television and radio is in Catalán. Both Castilian (Spanish) and Catalan (since 1979) are the official languages of Catalonia.

The Spanish donkey
Everybody sees the black bull as a sign of Spain and its silhouette can be seen as a sticker on the back of cars, trucks, scooters and motorbikes. Thousands of T-shirts, mugs and all kinds of souvenirs are being sold each year with this famous logo. But Catalonia does not feel to be part of Spain and therefore they do not like to put a bull on the back of their car. In 2004, two youngsters from Bañolas, near Barcelona, came up with a new logo designed for the people of Catalonia; a little black bull, "el Ruc Catalá" . The meaning however of this black donkey is not only to distinguish themselves from the rest of Spain. The real black donkey, the animal used by farmers to take them to the fields, is in the danger of extinction. In Catalonia there are only just 400 donkeys left. The stickers were designed to catch people's attention of this fact but soon after its introduction it became very popular amongst the Catalan people and soon T-shirts, mugs and all kinds of articles were made. Nowadays the "Burro Catalán" is the opposite of the "Toro de España" and can be seen on the back of many cars. Just have a look around and you will see.

La diada de Sant Jordi
On April the 23rd, everybody in Catalonia is in love since on this day "La Diada de Sant Jordi" is celebrated in honour of the Saint George, who is the patron saint of the six million inhabitants of Catalonia.

Also known as "The Day of Lovers," La Diada de Sant Jordi is like Valentine's Day with some uniquely Latin twists. The main event is the exchange of gifts between sweethearts--men give their "novias" roses, and women give their "novios" a book to celebrate the occasion. Roses have been associated with this day since medieval times when the knight Saint George killed a dragon to save the woman he loved. The giving of books is a more recent and to honour the nearly simultaneous deaths of Miguel Cervantes and William Shakespeare on April 23, 1616.

On Barcelona's las Ramblas and on the Rambla Nova of Tarragona, hundreds of stands of roses and makeshift bookstalls have been hastily set up for the occasion. By the end of the day, some four million roses and 400,000 books will have been purchased in the name of love. You will be hard-pressed to find a woman without a rose in hand, and half of the total yearly book sales in Catalonia take place on this occasion.

And while La Diada de Sant Jordi is not an "official" holiday, most romantics ditch the office to stroll the beautiful streets of Barcelona and Tarragona and to take in the sultry springtime weather. Love is definitely in the air, but even if you don't have a "novio" to smooch on a park bench there are still plenty of things to see and do.

For example, the Sardana, the national dance of Catalonia, will be performed throughout the day in the different plazas. Elsewhere, hundreds of Jordis, Georges, Yuris, Jorges, Gorkas and others named for the Saint will be forming a chain to try to get into the Guinness Book of Records. And there will be a variety of street performers and musicians on hand to add a romantic ambience to nearly every public square and plaza.

Even in Salou you will undoubtedly see people walking around with books and roses. When you are in love, this will be the opportunity to show this to your love and to the whole world.