Stuff Catalans Do
Welcome to Stuff Catalans Do. Here, for easier reading, I’ve combined all the Stuff Catalans Do posts from April 2017 into one. You can read the Intro here. Do you have any Catalonia stories, anecdotes, clangers, to share? Please do so in the comments at the end of this post. You can also join in […]
Stuff Catalans Do: Ullastret and Ulldecona
Ullastret and Ulldecona From ancient Iberian settlements in the north to rock art and ancient olive trees in the south, the history of Catalonia goes way back. Ullastret (oolyaSTRET), a town in the Baix Empordà region (inland from the Costa Brava), is home to the largest Iberian settlement so far discovered in Catalonia, dating to […]
Stuff Catalans Do: Tombatruites
Tombatruites Making a truita (trooEETeh) de patates (Spanish omelette) is dead easy. You fry the diced potatoes in olive oil till soft. You beat the eggs in a bowl, with salt. You add the eggs to the pan and cook the mixture on one side. And then you flip it over – and end up […]
Stuff Catalans Do: Sant Jordi
Sant Jordi Over the years, I’ve written about Sant Jordi many times, so this is a mash-up of several oldish pieces. El dia de Sant Jordi is a standout day in Catalonia, a not-to-be missed blend of fun and romance, culture and the hard-headed business sense that is said to be so typical of the […]
Stuff Catalans Do: Quatre gats
Quatre gats When I first came to Barcelona, when Spain was still a police state, I taught English at a school in a stately building on Rambla Catalunya, on the floor above what was then the Moroccan Consulate. One evening we heard a commotion outside and stepped out onto the narrow balcony: a handful of […]
Stuff Catalans Do: Pirineus
Pirineus From north to south, from east to west, the Catalans do mountains big time, and Els Pirineus (pronounced PeereeNAYoos) are the biggest of the lot. You probably know that they form a formidable natural barrier between France and Spain, and are jammed with ski slopes, hiking routes, all manner of sports and outdoor activities, […]
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: 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 […]