Too few vintage cars and too much reality

My original idea almost honours me: last Sunday, we would invite Swedish friends to a picnic on the beach in Sitges – one of these social activities which my wife loves. Then we would look at the vintage cars in the so-called "rally" Barcelona-Sitges – one of these things which really thrill our two little sons. And I would just happen film a bit and take some action photos without having to leave the family.

Then the idea was confronted with reality: None of our friends could come. My wife's picnic pies were delicious and we could choose a place of shelter for the picnic, but except for six small sailing boats in the distance, we had nothing to sit and watch. The town was full of people, but despite that, there was only one family, except for ours, which had decided to eat on the beach. Then, when it was time to see the rally, things went beyond control. We waited and waited and I guess that the clock must have been over three, but the cars did not turn up. The children got bored and a few minutes later my wife did not support the strong wind any longer, and showed me her fingers, actually blue from the cold (do not ask me how it happened). By the time I suggested that we could all try to "bite the bullet" for a while, the atmosphere was all gone and I accepted to take the family to the car, since only I knew where I had put it.

Now, I had parked quite far away from the centre so when we were finally back again, all the vintage cars had already reached their goal and were lined up at Fragata. As a nice gesture, my wife let me take the children for a short photo session, while she stayed in the car to get warm again. That was enough to make the boys satisfied – this “rally” easily beats most car museums - but I, myself, felt deprived of this day as I had pictured it. The Mediterranean and March are usually a safe bet, but not so this year.

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In Diari de Vilanova I read that this year, the Ral • li Internacional de Cotxes d'Època Barcelona-Sitges was organized for the 52nd time, and that one participant, Marcel Maluquer, has taken part in all editions. This time, 74 vehicles took part, all manufactured before the 1929.

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Here is my blog post about the rally 2008.

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Technorati tags: Barcelona, Catalonia, Penedès, Sitges, Vintage Car

SWE: Lite veteranbilar och mycket verklighet

Den ursprungliga idén nästan hedrar mig: vi skulle bjuda in svenska kompisar till picknick på stranden i Sitges i söndags – precis en sådan social aktivitet som min fru älskar. Sedan skulle vi titta på veteranbilarna i det så kallade ”rallyt” Barcelona-Sitges – precis sådant som mina små söner gillar. Själv skulle jag liksom bara råka få filma lite och ta några aktionbilder, utan att behöva dra mig undan från familjen.

Sedan komfronterades idén med verkligheten: Ingen av våra kompisar kunde komma. Min frus picknickpiroger var jättegoda och vi kunde välja en plats i lä, men förutom sex segelbåtar på långt avstånd hade vi ingenting att sitta och titta på. Uppe i staden var det fult med folk, men trots det fanns det bara en annan familj som också åt på stranden. När vi sedan skulle beskåda rallyt spårade allting ur: vi väntade och väntade, jag gissar att klockan blev mer än tre, men bilarna kom ju aldrig. Barnen blev uttråkade direkt och efter ytterligare några minuter i den hårda vinden stod inte min hustru ut längre utan pekade på sina faktiskt blåfrusna händer (fråga inte mig hur det gick till). Vid mina kommentarer om att vi kunde försöka ”bita ihop” var stämningen som bortblåst och jag fick gå med på att ta familjen till bilen, eftersom bara jag visste var jag hade ställt den.

Jag hade parkerat långt bort från centrum, så när vi äntligen var tillbaka igen hade bilarna redan gått i mål och parkerat vid Fragata. Som plåster på såren lät min fru mig ta med barnen på en kort fotorunda medan hon värmde sig i bilen. Killarna var helnöjda – rallyt slår ju de flesta bilmuseer – men jag själv kände mig lite snuvad på dagen så som den borde ha blivit. Medelhavet i mars brukar vara ett säkert kort, men så inte i år.

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I Diari de Vilanova läser jag att Ral·li Internacional de Cotxes d’Època Barcelona-Sitges i år ordnades för 52:a gången och att en deltagare, Marcel Maluquer, tydligen har varit med i alla omgångarna. I år deltog 74 fordon, alla tillverkade före 1929.

Här är mitt blogginlägg om rallyt 2008.

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Technorati tags: Barcelona, Katalonien, Penedès, Sitges,

Jumping the Gun to Build Human Towers

The traditional casteller-premiere - the date of spring when you start to see human towers being built in the squares of Catalonia – would normally be St. George's Day (el dia de Sant Jordi). This year, our team, Bordegassos de Vilanova, started early, on the Sunday, March 14, although the winter has refused to let go of its grip even here on the coast of the Mediterranean.

In retrospect, perhaps we should not have done so: We opened with a relatively stable 3de7, but had to start all over again (intent desmuntat) before we managed to build a 4de7 and a 4de6 amb l'agulla. In addition, we suffered a quite dramatic fall in the final round of pillars.

Both photos by Mayte Gomà

For me personally, however, it was a special day: I made my debut as agulla, which means you are literally in the middle of the crowd (pinya), supporting the knees of those who make up the tower's second level. It is apparently a very suitable position for those who - like me - are slim and above Catalan average height.

Our guests - els Minyons de Terrassa - are one of the four best teams of Catalonia and will in the summer regularly build human towers of nine levels. This early in the season, however, they limited themselves to seven and without the slightest problem assembled and disassembled 4de7, 5de7, 4de7 amb l'agulla and 3de7.

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Technorati tags: Castellers, Catalonia, Human Towers, Penedès, Vilanova

An attempt to do some proper blogging

My motivation to blog has often failed me recently and I therefore have reconsider what I am doing. Seen over the time, I am highly pleased with how this blog, on the one hand, drives me to learn new things and, on the other, serves as an extensive introduction into who I am for those who do not know me. Perhaps that is why I have felt bored in the last few weeks: going by routine, I have come to write too much about things to which I actually do not feel that close.

I have also come to a dead end in not wanting to write about everyday events precisely because they are small. The series Wirdheim in Vilanova was an attempt to solve this by adding such observations to comments on politics, but rapidly evolved into texts where I demanded too much of myself. Although it goes against my sadly pretentious nature, I must shorten down my posts.

Looking forward, I will have to let my blog become more heterogeneous and not try to tie the posts together. As a consequence, those who only look at a few texts will most likely be confused, but it is my hope that regular readers will find ways to sort out the entries of their liking.

Geographically, due to self-criticism, I have so far chosen a narrow focus - my home town Vilanova i la Geltrú and the rest of the Penedès area. It is high time to dare to broaden the perspective. Let us be honest: If we exclude wine and cava, the world’s needs of Penedès-information is limited. At the same time, there is a considerable interest in Catalonia. It is my lack of knowledge about Barcelona which, so far, has made me avoid the totality, but now I will give it a try. I do, after all, write about the Catalan culture, the Catalan society and its role in Spain in order to learn and not because I already know something! And still, if I do this right, I can become - Why not set the bar high? - one of the leading Swedish-speaking experts on Catalonia.

Do I understand the goal? Yes! Do I like the goal? Yes! So, let’s go, or endavant as they say in Catalan.

SWE: Vi tjuvstartar castellers-säsongen

Den traditionella casteller-premiären - alltså den dag på våren då det börjar byggas mänskliga torn på Kataloniens torg – är normalt Sankt Görans dag (el dia de Sant Jordi). I år började vårt lag, Bordegassos de Vilanova, tidigt, redan söndagen den 14:e mars och det trots att vintern har hållit sig kvar till och med här vid Medelhavskusten.

Med facit i han kanske vi skulle ha väntat: Vi öppnade förhållandevis säkert med ett 3de7, men var i de följande omgångarna tvungna att börja om från början (intent desmontat) innan vi lyckades bygga ett 4de7 samt ett 4de6 amb l’agulla. Dessutom hade vi ett ganska dramatiskt fall i den avslutande omgången med pelare.

Båda fotona av Mayte Gomà

För mig personligen var det ändå en stor dag: jag gjorde min debut som agulla vilket innebär att man står bokstavligen mitt inne i folkhopen (pinya) och stöttar knäna på dem som utgör tornets andra våning. Det är tydligen en mycket passande plats om man - som jag – är smal samt över katalansk medellängd.

Våra gäster – els Minyons de Terrassa – är ett av de fyra bästa lagen i Katalonien och bygger under sommaren regelbundet torn med nio nivåer. Så här tidigt på säsongen nöjde de sig dock med sju och byggde utan minsta problem 4de7, 5de7, 4de7 amb l’agulla och 3de7.

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Technorati tags: Katalonien, Penedès,Vilanova

SWE: Ett försök att blogga på riktigt

Motivationen att blogga har sviktat en del på sistone och jag måste därför tänka över vad det är jag egentligen håller på med. Sett över tiden är jag mycket nöjd med hur denna blogg å ena sidan driver mig att lära mig nya saker och å andra sidan presenterar vem jag är för dem som inte känner mig. Kanske är det därför som jag har känt mig uttråkad på sistone: av rutin har jag skrivit alldeles för mycket om saker som faktiskt inte engagerar mig särskilt mycket.

Jag har också hamnat i en återvändsgränd där jag inte låter mig skriva om vardagshändelser just för att de är små. I serien Wirdheim i Vilanova försökte jag lösa detta genom att klumpa ihop sådana observationer med kommentarer om politik, men då blev kravnivån för hög. Även om det strider mot min pretentiösa natur, måste jag korta ner mina inlägg.

Framöver skall jag låta mina blogginlägg bli mer heterogena och inte försöka att knyta ihop dem. Den som bara tittar på ett fåtal texter kommer sannolikt att bli förvirrad, men min förhoppning är att regelbundna läsare skall kunna gallra fram det som just de gillar.

Geografiskt har jag av självkritik hittills valt ett smalt fokus – min stad Vilanova i la Geltrú och resten av Penedès-området – men måste våga vidga perspektivet. Låt oss vara ärliga: Om vi bortser från vin och cava, är världens behov av Penedès-kunskap mycket begränsat. Däremot finns det ett stort intresse för Katalonien. Det är mina bristande kunskaper om Barcelona som har fått mig att undvika helheten men nu skall jag ge mig på den. Jag skriver ju om den katalanska kulturen, om det katalanska samhället och dess roll i Spanien för att lära mig - inte för att jag redan kan något! Gör jag det rätt kan jag bli – Varför inte lägga ribban högt? – en av de främsta svensktalande experterna på just Katalonien.

Förstår jag målsättningen? Ja! Gillar jag målsättningen? Ja! Då kör vi, eller endavant som de säger på katalanska.

We are no longer the first company to label condoms in Catalan

Today the press in Catalonia has announced that from today there will be new cheap condoms for young people available in pharmacies - 3 pieces for € 1.50. Behind the initiative is the manufacturer Durex and the Catalan authorities, the Generalitat, and the products carry labels in both Spanish and Catalan.

What disturbs us, puck-import.com, slightly is that the Catalan youth secretary, Eugeni Villalbí, claims that it is the first time condoms are being sold with user instructions in Catalan. As readers of this blog will know, Puck Import distributes the Swedish quality condoms RFSU and, for more than a year by now, have we marketed them with labels in Catalan. While Durex offers one article number with Catalan text, we do so for all our models and that without any support from the Generalitat.

Several Catalan news services have today published these news with the same wording as they had received them in the press release, probably sent out directly from Durex. We consider that unfortunate, because a quick search on Google would have led the journalists to texts about our commitment to the Catalan language. We are therefore grateful that the Plataforma per la llengua ("the Platform for the (Catalan) language") already a year ago commented on our activities in their magazine, La Corbella, and confirmed that we sold the first commercial condoms labelled in Catalan.

In the end, Puck Import celebrates the fact that Durex is proud of its "first Catalan condom". For a small company like ours, the attention this creates around the topic is highly welcome. We now look forward to the multinational company's next step and assume that it will be in line with the Generaliat’s slogan: "La revolució dels petits gestos ha començat!" (the Revolution of Small Gestures Has Started).

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More or less the same text, but in Catalan.

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What the press says:

ElSingularDigital.cat, Vilaweb and 3cat24 (all in Catalan) repeat that Durex has launched the first condoms labelled in Catalan.

LaVanguardia (in Spanish but still the reference newspaper of Catalonia) write about the cheap condoms but without repeating that Durex would be the first to label in Catalan, in fact, they do not even mention the name of the condom brand.

Directe.cat underlines that also RFSU is sold labelled in Catalan and has a web-site in Catalan and Spanish, while the one of Durex is still only available in Spanish.

Avui mentions that these condoms are labelled in Catalan, but does not claim that it is the first time this happens.

RacóCatalà seems to, above all, interpret the campaign as an effort to promote the use of condoms labelled in Catalan and stresses that RFSU offered this long before Durex.

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Technorati: Catalan, Catalonia, Condoms, RFSU, Spain,

Penedès News in English

Penedès is diversity – just compare the snow chaos which they suffered in Anoia and Alt Penedès with the five or six snowflakes which fell over us in Garraf and Baix Penedès. But it is also unity – four comarques west of Barcelona which historically belonged to one and the same administrative unit – a vegueria. Here is a summary of local news from this area, for the period March 4-9, 2010, starting with Penedès as a whole, and then split by comarca.

Penedès

The snow chaos around Barcelona has been in the news all around Europe, and highland Anoia has suffered a lot. School bus services were cancelled since a big part of the road network was not driveable. In Vilafranca, some secondary schools cancelled classes for one day. There were interruptions on the train lines FGC R6 (to Igualada) and Rodalies R-4 (from Sant Vicenç de Calders to Manresa, via Vilafranca) plus on the funicular up to Gelida. The town council of Gelida opened a sports pavilion, so that people who would otherwise have been stuck in their cars on the tollway AP-7 had a warm place to spend the night. As a contrast, Rodalies R-2 South (to Sant Vicenç de Calders via Vilanova) was the only Barcelona commuter train line to maintain full capacity throughout the Monday. (LaVanguardia) (Avui) (AD) (ElPunt) (ElPunt) (ElPunt) (DdV) (VD) (3de8) (3de8) (PD)

The tourism bodies of Alt Penedès, Garraf and Baix Llobregat have decided to promote our coastline as the “Coast of Barcelona – Sea, Modernism and Penedès” (Costa de Barcelona - mar, modernisme i Penedès). Until now the same comarques were promoted as “the Coast of Garraf” (Costa del Garraf). Personally, I must admit to have thought that Garraf was the last part of Costa Daurada and believe that it says so on the exit signs along AP-7. (ElPunt) (VD) (EW)

Pere Regull, CiU mayor of Vilafranca, and Jordi Aymamí, Entesa (PSC) mayor of Igualada are exchanging favors. The latter promise to support Vilafranca’s request for the high-speed train AVE to stop in the town, while the former will work for the new railway line tren orbital to come as close to Igualada as possible. (ElPunt)

The Institute for Penedès Studies entered the vegueria debate and demand that Penedès be united in an eighth vegueria. (ElPunt)

Among the improvements which the Generalitat has announced after taking over the responsibility for the commuter trains Rodalies, in Penedès there will be two new weekend connections on R-4 and one new Saturday connection on R-2 South. (LaVanguardia)

Ecologist groups of Penedès call on politicians and society not to turn the area into a logistic platform and to let parts of the AP-7 be free of charge instead of building a new motorway, A-7. (3de8)

Garraf

The remodelling of passeig de la Ribera in Sitges started and during the first phase the focus is on improving the sewers. (ElPunt) (VD)

The works on passeig de la Ribera, the creation of youth club in the building Parc del Rocà, improvements in the rugby stadion and new elevators from the train station up to Poble Sec are the main projects in which Sitges will invest the € 2,6 million received from the Spanish government program for job creation (FEOSL). (ElPunt)

The remodelling work of the historical parts of Vilanova i la Geltrú sees delays of about 1,5 year – above all due to rain. (DdV)

A seminar on the status of translations to Catalan of children’s books was organized by the Vilanova branch of UPC and the Victor Balaguer Museum. (ElPunt)

Alt Penedès

A lorry flipped over and caused an accident with three other cars near Gelida. Nobody was seriously hurt, but AP-7 was temporarily closed off. (LaVanguardia) (3de8)

An accident near Sant Sadurní d’Anoia, with eight vehicles involved but without serious injuries, resulted in the AP-7 being closed off. (LaVanguardia) (3de8)

The town council of Vilafranca del Penedès has closed the bidding process for building an extension to the emergencies part of the hospital. (ElPunt)

Baix Penedès

The area Clos del Rectoret of Calafell plus parts of Segur are among the spots of Catalonia where analogue TV signals are not being broadcast any longer although the digital version (TDT) does not yet reach the households. (PD)

A man who keeps six circus tigers in a cage trailer in Cunit has started discussions with the Generalitat on how to improve their situation. (ElPunt) (3de8)

The court of el Vendrell has ordered custody for a man, suspected of a murder attempt with a bottle during a burglary in Santa Oliva. (Avui)

Anoia

Igualada based English teachers start the bilingual “Partner’s Magazine” with the objective to motivate grown-ups to practise their English. (AD)

MercAnoia – a series of trade fairs to boost business in small towns of Anoia – are this year planned to coincide with local festivals in order to build synergies. (AD)

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My objective with these summaries is to, in English, present news which might be of interest to expats living in anyone of the municipalities covered, but I do not claim that local news from, for example, Vilanova, automatically are of interest to the inhabitants of the other towns of Penedès.

The idea behind the format is to present all items as extended headlines, with a focus onwhat, who and where. Readers who want more facts, like the hows and whys, will have to follow the link to the source articles. The answers to when will be the time period stated in the opening paragraph.

The main sources are AnoiaDiari·cat, Avui, Penedès Digital, El Punt, El 3 de Vuit,LaVanguardia and Vilanova Digital.

L’Extra - the only news service which treats the Penedès as a united entity – and our local newspaper Diari de Vilanova, serve as inspiration, but are usually not presented as sources since their digital formats either are incomplete or do not allow you to link to individual articles.

The signature EW signals that I am personally the source of information. Any opinions expressed are my own. Earlier editions can be found under the blog label Penedès News.

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Technorati tags: Anoia, Catalonia, Garraf, Igualada, Penedès,Sitges, el Vendrell, Vilafranca, Vilanova,

Join the NGO RFSU's Campaigns Against Maternal Mortality

Being a good parent is not always easy and especially not now when we all, to some degree, feel the effects of the financial crisis. Then it is refreshing to receive an eye opener about how fortunate we really are. A good example is the campaign on maternal mortality and abortion organized by the Swedish NGO RFSU and culminating tomorrow March 8, on the International Women's Day.

Both Sweden – where we come from - and Spain – where we live – are welfare states with a minimal maternal mortality. What RFSU aims to draw the attention to is how different the situation is in the poorer parts of the world: Every year, over half a million women die of birth-related injuries. The five main causes – severe bleeding, infections, eclampsia, unsafe abortions and obstructed labour - are all relatively easy to avoid. Nevertheless, pregnancy in itself can almost be considered life-threatening in places like Niger, Afghanistan, Sierra Leone and others.

RFSU's protest takes the form of a so-called "baby stroller march on a broad front" through the centre of Stockholm. It ends with a list being handed over to the Swedish Minister of International Cooperation, Gunilla Carlsson, containing the following demands:

• that Sweden and other governments of the rich world commit the SEK 80 (approximately € 8) per year and OECD citizen needed to reduce maternal mortality by 70 percent.
• that the right to abortion is considered a human right and an important global issue.
• that countries to which Sweden provides development funds have an action plan for how to reduce maternal mortality, including measures to ensure access to contraceptives, information, safe abortions and medical care during childbirth.

Personally - as a distributor of RFSU's condoms in Spain (Puck Import, S.L.) - I am very glad that the NGO RFSU has chosen a theme related to developing countries for its International Women's Day campaign and I am confident that it will be a success. A great number of more or less famous Swedes already in advance show their support, either by blogging about it (in Swedish) or by becoming so-called "mother ambassadors".

Those of us who can not be physically present in Stockholm tomorrow, have the possibility to participate by signing a web petition or joining a Facebook group. Let us all "Unite for Women".

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RFSU’s demand for abortions to be considered a human right is controversial already within the EU, for example in Spain. Zapatero’s Socialist government recently introduced a new liberal abortion law, but today, March 7, we saw several “yes to life-demonstrations"(España Vida Sí) against it. In Madrid, as of the organizers' own figure, as many as 600.000 people took part, while in Barcelona they are said to have been 7.000.

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A similar post in Catalan, Spanish and Swedish.

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Technorati tags: RFSU, Spain,

Stöd RFSU:s kampanj mot mödradödlighet

Att vara en bra förälder känns inte alltid så enkelt och speciellt inte nu när vi alla, mer eller mindre direkt, känner av kristiderna. Då är det bra att någon öppnar ens ögon för hur lyckligt lottade man egentligen är. Ett exempel på det är RFSU:s kampanj om mödradödlighet och aborter som kulminerar på den internationella kvinnodagen, den 8/3.

Både Sverige - som vi kommer ifrån - och Spanien - som vi bor i - har liksom andra rika länder en minimal mödradödlighet. Vad RFSU vill rikta uppmärksamhet på är hur annorlunda situationen är i de fattigare delarna av jorden: Varje år dör över en halv miljon kvinnor av förlossningsrelaterade skador. De fem huvudorsakerna - förblödning, infektioner, graviditetskramp, osäkra aborter samt försvårad förlossning – är förhållandevis lätta att undvika. Trots det är en graviditet i sig närmast att betrakta som livshotande på platser som Niger, Afganistan, Sierra Leone med flera.

RFSU:s protest tar sitt uttryck i en så kallad ”barnvagnsmarsch på bred front” genom Stockholms centrum. Den avslutas med att Sveriges biståndsminister, Gunilla Carlsson, uppvaktas med följande krav:

• att Sverige och andra rika länder satsar de 80 kr per OECD-medborgare och år som krävs för att minska mödradödligheten med 70 procent.

• att rätten till abort blir betraktad som en mänsklig rättighet och en viktig global fråga.

• att de länder som Sverige ger bistånd till har en handlingsplan för hur mödradödlighet ska bekämpas – och att den innehåller åtgärder för att säkra tillgång till preventivmedel, information, säkra aborter och förlossningsvård.

Personligen - som distributör för RFSU:s kondomer i Spanien (Puck Import, S.L.) - är jag väldigt glad över att Riksorganisationen har valt ett u-landsrelaterat tema för den internationella kvinnodagen och är säker på att manifestationen blir en framgång. En mängd svenska kändisar visar redan i förväg sitt stöd genom att antingen blogga om den eller gå in som så kallade mammaambassadörer.

Vi som inte kan delta fysiskt kan ändå delta genom att skriva på ett nätupprop eller gå med i en Facebook-grupp. Låt oss alltså alla “Unite for Women”.

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RFSUs krav på abort ses som en mänsklig rättighet är kontroversiellt redan inom EU, t.ex. här i Spanien. Zapateros socialistregering har nyligen infört en ny liberalare abortlagstiftning men idag, den 7/3, hölls det ”ja till livet-demonstrationer” (España Vida Sí) mot den. I Madrid skall, enligt organisatörernas egna siffror, hela 600.000 personer ha deltagit, medan de i Barcelona sägs ha varit 7.000.

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En liknande post på engelska, katalanska och spanska.

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Technorati tags: RFSU, Spanien