Pete Goding

From a distance it’s not immediately clear where the rider ends and his bike begins. Silhouetted against the rising sun, the two merge in a symphony of sinewy, Lycra-clad limbs and range-topping carbon fibre. This cycling centaur stands at the viewpoint of the hilltop monastery taking in the sea of green below. He’s clearly a pro a not uncommon sight here in the northeastern corner of Catalonia. I, manifestly, am not. Joining him with my chunky e-bike and billowing jacket, I’m greeted cursorily and then, with a click and a whirr, he’s gone…….Continue reading….

By Duncan Craig

Source:  National Geographic

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Critics:

Catalan gastronomy has a long culinary tradition. Various local food recipes have been described in documents dating from the fifteenth century. As with all the cuisines of the Mediterranean, Catalonian dishes make abundant use of fish, seafood, olive oil, bread and vegetables. Regional specialties include pa amb tomàquet (bread with tomato), which consists of bread (sometimes toasted), and tomato seasoned with olive oil and salt.

Often the dish is accompanied with any number of sausages (cured botifarres, fuet, iberic ham, and others), ham or cheeses. Other dishes include calçotada, escudella i carn d’olla, suquet de peix (fish stew), and a dessert, Catalan cream. Catalan vineyards also have several Denominacions d’Origen wines, such as Priorat, Montsant, Penedès and Empordà. There is also a sparkling wine, the cava.

Catalonia is internationally recognized for its fine dining. Three of the World’s 50 Best Restaurants are in Catalonia, and four restaurants have three Michelin stars, including restaurants like El Bulli or El Celler de Can Roca, both of which regularly dominate international rankings of restaurants. The region has been awarded the European Region of Gastronomy title for the year 2016.

Castells are one of the main manifestations of Catalan popular culture. The activity consists in constructing human towers by competing colles castelleres (teams). This practice originated in Valls, in the region of the Camp de Tarragona,^[238] during the 18th century, and later it was extended to the rest of the territory, especially in the late 20th century. The tradition of els Castells i els Castellers was declared Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO in 2010.

In main celebrations, other elements of the Catalan popular culture are also usually present: parades with gegants (giants), bigheads, stick-dancers and musicians, and the correfoc, where devils and monsters dance and spray showers of sparks using firecrackers. Another traditional celebration in Catalonia is La Patum de Berga, declared a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity by the UNESCO on 25 November 2005.

St. George’s Day (Diada de Sant Jordi) is a widely celebrated festival in all Catalan towns on 23 April dedicated to the patron saint of Catalonia in a tradition established in the Middle Ages, which nowadays includes an exchange of books and roses between sweethearts and loved ones,^[241] therefore, serving to the same romantic purpose that of Saint Valentine’s Day in Anglophone countries. Despite being a working day, it is regarded as one of Catalan national holidays due to its popularity.

Christmas in Catalonia lasts two days, plus Christmas Eve. On the 25th, Christmas is celebrated, followed by a similar feast on the 26, called Sant Esteve (Saint Steve’s Day). This allows families to visit and dine with different sectors of the extended family or get together with friends on the second day.

One of the most deeply rooted Christmas traditions is the popular figure of the Tió de Nadal, consisting of an (often hollow) log with a face painted on it and often two little front legs appended, usually wearing a Catalan hat and scarf. The word has nothing to do with the Spanish word tío, meaning uncle. Tió means log in Catalan.

The log is sometimes “found in the woods” (in an event staged for children) and then adopted and taken home, where it is fed and cared for during a month or so. On Christmas Day or on Christmas Eve, a game is played where children march around the house singing a song requesting the log to poop, then they hit the log with a stick.

To make it poop, and lo and behold, as if through magic, it poops candy, and sometimes other small gifts. Usually, the larger or main gifts are brought by the Three Kings on 6 January, and the tió only brings small things.

Interview with Salvador Illa, President of Catalonia: Strengthening Cooperation with Chinese Tech Industry  05:05 Fri, 05 Jun