ENG: On the Program of Santa Tecla in English

These are the main days of the Festes de Santa Tecla of Tarragona - an event declared a 'Traditional Festival of National Interest' by the Generalitat and which offers a very extensive program. There must have been a plan to translate it into other languages, but as it is now, the English and Spanish links refer you back to the Catalan version. Having said that, I consider the program visitor friendly since next to each item, a link saying ‘veure localització’ leads you to a map.

Below are the highlights for everyone interested in Catalan popular culture, but do not hesitate to refer to the full program for details. With some knowledge of any romance language and my Festa Major Glossary you will be able to understand most of it.
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Friday, September 19 – la Santa Tecla Petita
• A day of dances and human towers (castells) performed by children. The cercavila (a parade with performances) starts at 19.00 from the Plaça de la Font.

Saturday, September 20
• The Concert of the Beguda Convidada (guest drink) takes place at at Plaça de les Cols at 12.30. This year's drink is limoncello from Pompeii (Tarragona’s Italian twin town).
• The performance of 'living folklore' takes place at the Rambla Nova at 19.00.
• At 22.30, the altarpiece of Santa Tecla is delivered to the cathedral.

Sunday, September 21
• At 18.00, the festa major announcement (pregó) is read at the town hall.
• From 19.30 onwards, a large number of giants and nans dance through the streets, starting from the Plaça de la Font.
• At midnight, and also at 1.30 a.m., people from the audience are allowed to lift and try to dance around inside the giant figures. This item is called the baixada del seguici i de les bandes.

Monday, September 22
• The parade (cercavila) of Santa Tecla, in which all folk culture groups (colles) take part, starts at 19.00 from Plaça de la Font.
• Throughout the evening there are performances of Dames i Vells; satiric comedy shows.
• At midnight, the party (revetlla) on the Eve of Santa Tecla begins and continues throughout the night.

Tuesday, September 23 – la Diada de Santa Tecla
• At 10.00, the divine service of the festa major takes place at the cathedral.
• The divine service is followed by a parade and at 11.15, at the Plaça de la Font, one after the other of the participating groups take turns to show their best performance (tanda de lluïment).
• Human towers (castells) will be assembled at Plaça de la Font from 13.00 onwards.
• At 19.00, the procession el Braç de Santa Tecla, starts from the Pla de la Seu. Again, all folk culture groups (colles) take part.
• The festa major fireworks will be shot off at 22.30.

Wednesday, September 24 – la Diada de la Mercè
• A human towers (castellers) performance takes place at Plaça de les Cols at 13.00. After that, all groups assemble pilars (human towers of one person per level) and try to walk up and down the stairs at the Pla de la Seu.
• The program is rounded off with a "firerun" (correfoc), starting at 22.30

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Personally, I hope to be able to make it to Tarragona during the weekend, but I am confident that my wife will be more interested in la Mercè – the Festa Major of Barcelona – which also has started by now. Well, wherever we take our children in the end, we can be sure that they will receive a good dose of Catalan culture.

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Technorati tags: Catalonia, Festa, Tarragona, Wirdheim

SWE: Tossa de Mar – så idylliskt som alla säger

Tossa de Mar är en av de mest välbesökta turistorterna på Costa Brava – den vilda kusten – men har trots det lyckats behålla mycket karaktär. Allra bildskönast är de trånga gränderna uppe i den muromgärdade gamla staden – Vila Vella – men också kvarteren nedanför presenterar en medelhavsstad så som åtminstone jag vill ha den: full av byggnader som fortsätter att berätta sina historier även om det nu ligger restauranger och småbutiker i dem.

Undvik absolut inte Tossa för att det skulle vara för gulligt. En barfotapromenad på den mycket grova sanden på Platja Gran påminner om att allt du ser är äkta och alls inte tillrättalagt. Platja de la Mar Menuda har något finare sand. Som alltid på Costa Brava blir havet snabbt djupt, vilket gör att relativt stora båtar som förbinder Tossa med andra kuststäder kan gå ända in till stranden. Tar man sig i stället hit med bil bör man förbereda sig på att vägen är väldigt kurvig, oavsett varifrån man kommmer.

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På infotossa.com och tossademar.com kan man klicka sig fram till turistinformation på engelska.
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Technorati tags: Katalonien, Wirdheim

ENG: Oldest Son's First Good Picture

The picture forms part of Utan Ord (Without Words, in Swedish).

SWE: Vilafranca del Penedès – en öppen, äktkatalansk stad

De som tror att äkta katalanska samhällen befolkas av bakåtsträvande och världsfrånvända stofiler skall genast besöka Vilafranca del Penedès (c:a 30.000 invånare). Här möter man en levande folkkultur; stadens castellers – de som bygger mänskliga torn – är de bästa i Katalonien och stadsfesten – Festa Major – är klassad som ”den mest typiska”. Stadskärnan är kompakt och bland sevärdheterna kan nämnas Vinmuseet, som också skildrar lokalhistorian, och basilikan Santa Maria (båda på Plaça Jaume I). Detta är huvudstaden i vittvinsregionen Penedès. Av vinhusen är Torres det mest kända men nästan alla erbjuder visningar.

Kanske beror Vilafranca-bornas öppenhet mot främlingar på att det här är en gammal markadsstad. Än idag fylls gatorna på lördagar med tillfälliga stånd. Mycket av det som erbjuds är ointressant men stämningen gör marknaden, liksom resten av staden, värd att besöka. Det är lätt att komma dit: lokaltåg (rodalies) från Barcelona Sants avgår en gång i timmen och resan tar en knapp timme.

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Stadens turistinformation erbjuds på engelska, franska, katalanska och spanska.
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Technorati tags: Barcelona, Festa, Katalonien

CAT: Tornada a l’escola, tornada a l’ordre

Fa una setmana va tornar el nostre fill petit a la llar d’infants i el dilluns que vé començarà l’any escolar per al gran també. Finalment! Quasi tres mesos sense escola és massa temps. Per al fill gran, a qui li falten els seus amics, però també per a nosaltres, els pares. Les activitats alternatives – el casal de estiu de juliol i els ‘tallers’ de la setmana pasada – van ser bones, però l’horari és tan curt que vam haver d’adoptar-hi tota la vida laboral. Som estrangers i no podem demanar que ens ajudin els avis, ja que son tots a Suècia. Ara bé, no em queixo. Els nostres dos nens petits tornen a l’escola sense plorar, fins i tot amb molt de gust. Això no passa a tothom. Espero que no sigui per la raó que són feliços de no haver de passar tots els dies amb mi.

Tornem a la normalitat i - almenys és això que vull jo - una mica més d’ordre a casa. Quin moment més oportú va eligir IKEA per emitir el nou catàleg. Enguany el vam rebre a la bústia, cosa que no ens havia passat abans. M’imagino que es van adonar que tenen com a mínim una familia de clients molt fidels - és a dir la nostra - per aquí a Vilanova. És un plaer de veure que aquesta empresa fa una edició catalana de la seva publicitat i que a les seves botigues sempre fan els cartells a ambdues llengües oficials. L’única cosa que no tradueixen son els noms suecs dels productes. Els alemanys tenen l’Institut Goethe i els francesos l’Alliance Française – amb això no podem competir nosaltres, els suecs. Tanmateix, gràcies a una empresa privada es difon el suec pertot arreu del món. Quin orgull per a una llengua tan petita com la nostra.

ENG: What Catalans Commemorate on September 11

To most of the western world, the 11th of September is a day when we recall how, in 2001, our civilization was attacked by islamic terrorists. By an unfortunate coincidence, this is also the date of the Catalan national holiday – the Diada (short for la Diada Nacional de Catalunya).

On the “Onze de Setembre” of 1714, the defenders of Barcelona had to surrender after a siege which marked the end of the war of the Spanish succession (1701-1714). The Kingdom of Aragon, to which Catalonia belonged, had supported the Austrian archduke Charles’ claim to the Spanish throne, but he had had to give it up to the Bourbons. As a result of the war, Spanish regions in modern Italy and the Netherlands were taken over by the Austrians while Catalonia and everything to the west of it continued to belong to Spain.

What Catalonia lost on this day was not really its sovereignty – since the 12th century it had belonged to the Kingdom of Aragon which, in turn, from 1516 formed part of the decentralized Kingdom of Spain – but its furs (fueros, in Spanish). The furs were autonomy charters which allowed regions to maintain local institutions and law, but now they were replaced with the Nova Planta, a decree which, among other things, imposed Spanish as the only official language and centralized all administration. The Basque Country and Navarra, which had supported the Bourbons during the conflict, were allowed to keep their furs and that is the background to why, still today, these autonomous communities have separate fiscal and administrative systems within the Spanish state.

The celebrations of the Diada started in the 19th century as memorial speeches in the church Santa Maria del Mar (el Born) next to the Fossar de les Moreres where many bodies had been thrown into a mass grave after the war. At the time, the Catalan nationalist left criticised the acts for being religious, but they were the root of the first formal manifestation. The latter was held in 1901 at the monument to Rafael Casanova - a lawyer who in 1714, according to the legend, heroicly encouraged the Barcelona citizens to fight - and ended with 30 people being arrested.

During the dictatorship from 1939 to 1975, the Diada could only be celebrated in private, but in 1964, on the day of its 250th anniversary, some dared to manifest their Catalanisme in public, encouraged by the fact that the Franco regime celebrated “25 years of peace” after the Civil War. Of the 3.000 people who took to the streets, in fact, only seven were detained.

Throughout the last century not only Spanish oppression reduced the participation in the celebrations. A contributing factor have been internal conflicts among the Catalan nationalist, always split into left- and right-wing factions. That is a phenomenon which we know well from the politics of our days but, interestingly enough, since the Diada was declared national holiday in 1980, it has become a symbol of an inclusive Catalan unity. With the exception of Ciutadans, all political parties take part in the acts, i.e. even Partit Popular.

Here in Vilanova the program will start at 12.00 and take place at the statute of Francesc Macià – a Vilanova native and former President of Catalonia. This is by tradition a beautiful but calm manifestation of popular support for the Catalan culture. Those who are looking for hard-core independentistes will have to go to Barcelona. Posters about the celebrations there are hard to miss.

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Related web-sites: Wikipedia on the Diada Nacional de Catalunya, the Web of the Diada and 11setembre. And, of course, my own entry from last year on this topic.

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Technorati tags: Barcelona, Catalonia, Independence, Spain, Vilanova

ENG: Wine Harvest Time in the Penedès

The picture forms part of Utan Ord (Without Words, in Swedish).

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Technorati tags: Catalonia, Penedès,

ENG: On the Flags of Catalonia, Independent or Not

Even visitors here a might notice that there are many versions of the Catalan flag. The official one – la senyera – has its origin in one of Europe’s oldest coats of arms and consists of four red pallets (quatre pals or quatre barres) on a yellow background. According to the legend, in 897 King Charles the Bald (Carles el Calb) wanted to honour the Wilfred the Hairy (Guifré el Pelós), Count of Barcelona, for his braveness during the siege of the city and therefore - with blood from the dying count’s wounds - used four fingers to paint lines on his golden shield.

Many people claim that this coat of arms stems from the counts of Barcelona, but its first undisputed appearance was in 1159, in the seal of Alfonso II of Aragon. It evolved into a symbol of the Kingdom of Aragon, and has since then been the base of the flags of the regions which formed part of it – Aragon, the Balearic Islands, Catalonia and Valencia.

Making a jump to the year 1918, in the peace negotiations after World War I, many countries were formally recognized as sovereign states - Finland and the Baltic countries - or even created – Czechoslovakia. Activists for an independent Catalonia felt a need for a battle symbol and, by definition, it could not be a flag accepted by the Spanish crown. Politician Vincenç-Albert Ballester is given the credit for having added a white star on a blue triangle to the senyera – l’estelada blava, inspired by the the flag of Cuba which had ceased to be a Spanish colony in 1898. However, an independence flag with a star – albeit in the middle - can be found in photos from 1908.

Ballester’s flag was adopted as a unifying symbol until 1968 when Catalan revolutionaries wanted an even stronger symbol and replaced the white star with a red one. This flag is called the estelada roja (as of roig for communist red) and is still the version preferred by movements like JERC (the youth organisation of Esquerra Republicana) and CUP. Over the time it has gained popularity also outside the political left.

The design of the blava as well as the roja has never been standardized so sometimes the top arm of the star points to the sky and sometimes to the flagpole. The reason for this can possibly be that it is only a transitory symbol. Ballesters himself foresaw that the original senyera, without a star, would again be the only flag of Catalonia as soon as a sovereign state had been created.

On September 11, Catalonia celebrates its national holiday and all town halls (ajuntament) hoist the Catalan flag. This year, a few of them (among them Vilafranca del Penedès) will use the estelada - to celebrate the 100th anniversary of one of the strongest symbols for an independent Catalonia.

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Main source of information: la Comissió de 100 anys de l’estelada

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Technorati tags: Barcelona, Catalonia, Independence, Spain

CAT: Memòries contradictòries de vacances a Suècia

Fins ara no he escrit res a aquest bloc sobre Halmstad, la bonica ciutat sueca on vaig néixer. Durant les vacances vaig començar de pensar les coses que vull presentar a una entrada i he decidit fer-la a castellà amb l’objectiu que atregui el més interés possible. Pot ser que sembli increïble, però entre suecs aquest lloc està connegut per les seves platges. Ja vereu, perquè vaig fer moltes fotografies i, clar, totes de sol.

A prop del mar tenen els meus pares una caseta de camp, on puc portar la meva família. Els agrada molt als nostres fills i fa uns dies el gran va fer-ne un dibuix. És veu clarament que es tracta d’una casa molt petita i que hi ha un banc al costat que dona als veïns. A la cantonada hi ha una barra fixa, ja que l’area pertany al club gimnàstic de la ciutat (prengueu nota de les plataformes on es posa l'entrenador per ajudar els gimnastes). Però més que res s’hi veu com plou d’un gran núvol fosc. Es nota que aquest nen no és d’allà - no ha aprengut l’art de suprimir memories de mal temps. La meva dona i jo, que ambdós som de la costa oest de Suècia, ho dominem perfectament. Als estius de la nostra infantesa sempre feia sol.

ENG: Vilanova Beaches Suitable for Children: Platja de Ribes Roges

The picture of my oldest son swimming in the shallow water forms part of Utan Ord (Without Words, in Swedish).